Night in the Woods: Reality
by GreggoryLeeIsKewl47
Summary: Nitw. Mae returns to Possum Springs from a trip with Bea after the events in the games following the Bea ending. Mae wakes up in a strange world. She has to survive and find a way out. (Spoilers, probably)
1. Return

**Author's Notes: Hello. This isn't my first time making a story, however it is my first time posting one for many people to see (If many people even read this). I hope you like the first chapter, it took me a few weeks to make, but it was fun. I'll start working on chapter 2 soon. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Bea, look we're almost back," the enthusiastic cat said while pointing to the upcoming buildings. She jumped all around in her seat, catching the attention of Bea.

"Mae, cut it out," Bea spoke slowly. Mae calmed and put on her seatbelt. She did not want to agitate Bea, but Mae was antsy to arrive back to Possum Springs after being in a car for so long. She and Bea drove far out west, which took a week. They bonded more during that week; Bea even smiled thrice during the trip, legitimately.

"Remember the cactus incident?" Mae asked Bea.

"How could I forget? I told you not to touch it, but that guy kept daring you to, so you decided to hug it. You were running around screaming in pain. It took me an hour to try and pull out all the thorns. I had to bring you over to the hospital, though."

"It was hilarious for a couple seconds, then I felt lots of pain. Although, the next day, I paid for a nice dinner with the fifty bucks that guy gave to me." A tear started to show in Bea's eye. Bea didn't know where the sudden feeling came from, but she felt the need to speak about it.

"You were badly hurt. Of course, it was funny at first, but I felt guilty just watching you run around in pain," Bea turned to stare at Mae as she continued talking, "Promise me you won't ever do something as stupid as that. I don't want you to end up worse than when you were at the hospital. First, we thought you got shot. Then you hug a cactus and bleed all over. Promise me." Mae gazed back at Bea as she spoke.

"Wow… Bea I didn't know that upset you so much. I promise," as Mae said this she wondered if she could keep the promise. She is known to be mischievous and do stupid things. Honk! Honk!

"OH SH-" Bea quickly shouted as she swerved the car back into the right lane. Bea's focus was on Mae and not the road, so a truck almost hit them.

"I guess you also need to be careful BeaBea," Mae winked at Bea playfully, but Bea didn't notice because her attention was towards the road.

"Yeah," Bea replied as they now entered Possum Springs.

* * *

Mae jumped out of the car. Unlike when she dropped out of college, she felt excited to arrive back home from a long trip. She turned around to look at Bea. They waved goodbye to each other as Bea drove off towards, most likely, home. Mae stepped up the porch, then fumbled with the lock, putting the same code as always. Click! After unlocking the door, she entered to find it empty. It was becoming dark outside, so she could assume it was around seven or eight in time. Her father comes home at about eight thirty; sometimes at nine o'clock. She went upstairs, and stared at the clock. The minute hand pointed at nine while the hour hand pointed at eight. _Eight forty-five, maybe dad's working late tonight,_ Mae pondered. She then went to her parent's door to put her ear up against it. Mae could hear a faint snoring. _Ok, Mom's home, so the house isn't totally empty,_ thought Mae. Suddenly, a knock at the front door startled Mae, making her accidentally bump into the bedroom door.

"Huh? Mae is that you?" said her mom on the other side of the door.

"Yeah. I just got back, and I am making sure you were home."

"Who's at the door?"

"I don't know, but I'll check. It might be dad."

"Ok. Be careful. Goodnight." Mae then heard her mom shift in the bed a bit before going back to sleep. Mae rushed down the stairs, curious of who was at the door. She unlocked and swung open the door to see Gregg was there, smiling.

"Hi Mae! I was walking through the neighborhood, and I saw Bea's car drive by. I came over here to say hi." Gregg began flailing his arms around, just like he always does, although he quickly ceased flailing.

"What are you doing walking around this late?" Mae asked wondering what Gregg was up to.

"Oh, just taking a walk," he said in a tone that was cheerful but seemed false. "Do you want to hangout tomorrow?" Mae wanted to say yes, but she promised her parents over the phone that the three of them would have fun. Mae shook her head no. "Alright." he spoke. Mae could see Gregg smiling, however, she could sense he was sad. He was lowered in posture and his ears were drooped.

"Are you ok? You can hang out with Angus tomorr-" At the mention of Angus, Gregg stopped smiling, which made Mae end her sentence.

"I'm fine," he said, before heading down the street.

"You sure?" Mae shouted to him when he was a few steps down the street.

"...Yeah. Don't worry about me." Mae felt bad, but she didn't know what Gregg was sad about. Angus, maybe? She's tired and just got back from a long road trip, so she wanted to get some sleep. After locking the door, she went upstairs to her bedroom, and turned on the laptop. Only Bea was online.

{Mae} Hey Bea. Gregg just showed up. He was all sad and I don't know why.  
[Bea] Yeah I waved hi to him when I drove past. He just gazed at me.  
{Mae} Did something happen between him and Angus?  
[Bea] Idk, we just got back  
{Mae} hmmm… I'm going to sleep. night  
[Bea] Goodnight.

Mae turned off her computer since nobody else was online. She took off her boots and slowly drifted off into slumber.

 **"You've changed, Mae. I hate you..."**

She woke up the next morning on the floor. A headache flowed through her head. _I feel like I just had a hangover,_ She thought. However, she didn't drink any alcohol. _Maybe it was a bad dream._ Mae concluded that it was most likely a nightmare. Trying to remember the dream did not work. _What was it about?_ Mae pondered. All that came to mind was somebody, blurry, so she couldn't tell who. That person was saying something. The word hate? Oh well, it wasn't **that** important to her, so she got ready, and opened her laptop. Nobody was online today. Bea was probably still asleep, Angus usually isn't online, and Gregg… was actually online. Mae must not have noticed. She sent him a "Morning," but he didn't reply, which was strange. He usually replies, so she sent another message.

{Mae} Gregg?

[Gregg] Hey  
{Mae} It took you awhile to answer back  
[Gregg] I can't talk right now  
{Mae} Why not?  
[Gregg] Personal garbage  
{Mae} Are you sure everything is fine? You seemed pretty sad last night.

Mae waited a few minutes, but Gregg didn't reply again. She didn't want to wait there forever, so she shut her laptop and went downstairs. As she passed the bird she told it, "hello," and the bird chirped back.

As she descended to the first floor her mother spoke, "Mae, honey, come talk to me before you head out." Mae grinned as she felt happy to see her mom again. She ran into the kitchen and hopped onto the counter. "How was the trip?"

"Me and Bea had fun! I hugged a cactus for fifty bucks."

"That sounds painful," the mom replied in slight shock.

"It sure was!"

"Well, I'm glad you had an exciting time." She waited for her mom to continue, talk about what she had planned for today, but they just stared at each other.

"Sooo…"

"What?"

"You had something planned?"

"Nope." Mae was annoyed. Did her mom forget? When she and Bea were driving back home Mae's parents called them. Her mom said that they had something planned for her return. It bugged Mae that her mom pretended like nothing special was going to happen at all.

"You told me you planned to do something on my return. I got excited. Tell me now! Please."

"Nothing planned," the mom replied in a normal tone.

"Fine! I'm going! And I take back my please!" Mae exclaimed as she jumped off the counter and thrusted her arms in the air. She began moving towards the door.

Before she could open the door her mom said, "Mae, honey, come talk to me before you head out." Mae turned around, and stared at her mom, who only stared back. "I want to talk about how you're trip was."

"Nope! I'm out of here." Mae hastily left the house. Her mom was acting strange, and she didn't want to be apart of it. Maybe Bea was at the Ol' Pickaxe. Normally, Bea leaves a message saying she went to work, but today she could've forgotten. Mae set out to the Ol' Pickaxe. As she walked along through the streets she got an eerie feeling.

The streets were empty with nobody to be seen. The town felt empty now. Selmers wasn't here, Mr. Chazokov wasn't here, even that guy on the porch was not here. Mae decided to rush over to Bea's workplace; she ran quickly. She did not know what was happening, but she had a feeling that something was wrong. She felt the need to tell Bea as soon as possible.

However, as she got closer to Bea people suddenly started to show. Cars drove by. People passed by. She got confused, but calmed. _There were people. Maybe I just panicked a bit… just a bit,_ she believed, So Mae, now tranquil, walked into the Ol' Pickaxe.

* * *

 **End Notes: Hope the first chapter caught your interest. Please leave reviews of anything that could improve my writing, or anything you would like to say about the story :3**

 **Edits: Fixed a silly mistake near the end of the chapter.**


	2. Shapes

**Author's Notes: Hi again. I've been working everyday to get chapter two done. Writing this is very fun, and I hope you like this next chapter.  
Enjoy chapter two!**

* * *

As Mae entered the Ol' Pickaxe the store's jingle filled her ears. Honestly, she never liked the jingle, but hearing it now made her feel serene. Although, she felt even happier to see Bea. "Hey Bea!" the feline said.

"Hi Mae," Bea said dully. She seemed bored and as if she wanted to burn down the entire world. Or it could just be the usual Bea. Well she looks the same either way. Mae leaned against the counter and stared at the ceiling.

"I feel like something strange is happening. My mom was acting weird this morning. It felt like half the town was empty. Did you notice anything strange?" Mae waited a minute before turning her gaze towards Bea. Her friend just stared back in silence. "Um, ok… Last night, I've been thinking. The car ride back home got pretty emotional. We almost crashed into a truck. And… wait. Bea are you ok?" Bea continued to stare at Mae in silence. Mae waved her hand in Bea's face before continuing, "Why are you so silent? Say something!" However, Bea kept staring at her in silence. All Mae could hear was the store's jingle, looping over and over. Once into twice into thrice. Looping, never ending as Mae stood there waiting for Bea to respond. "Bea!" Mae shouted in an annoyed tone. She couldn't stand the complete silence. It wasn't long before she raised her hand, and slapped Bea's face as hard as she could. Mae thought Bea would get mad and say something, that she would say anything, however, Bea didn't get angry, she just stood there silent. Mae, now infuriated with tears, shouted, "WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS TOWN!?" Then not expecting Bea to say anything else, she turned around and ran out the store's door.

 _Gregg! He must be normal right?_ Mae hoped. She looked down the street, towards the Snack Falcon. _The lights are on; Gregg must be working,_ Mae assumed, _unless he left with the lights on._ Mae ran quickly. Once she arrived to the Snack Falcon, she slammed open the door. A different jingle played. Compared to the Ol' Pickaxe, Mae liked this one, but the jingle was not her focus. "Gregg!" Mae shouted as she ran up to him, "Say anything! Please!"

"What's up?" he asked. Mae took a sigh of relief, glad to see Gregg wasn't as quiet as Bea was.

"Something strange is happening. I need to figure out what."

"What's up?" Gregg replied nervously.

"We should go see if Angus is ok."

"What's up?" Gregg replied, again, now in a serious tone.

"Why do you keep asking me that?"

"What's up?" Gregg replied. Mae was content that Gregg was saying something, but he would not stop repeating the same phrase. He was acting just as strange as everyone else today.

"Stop! I don't want you to act weird too!"

Going with Mae's expectations, he repeated, "What's up?"

"AAAAH!" Mae screamed in anger as she kicked the counter. Then she clenched her foot in pain. "Ow! Bad Idea!" She could hear a snicker, but when she turned to check Gregg, he wasn't there. "I gotta go see if Angus is normal," Mae told herself in desperation. She rushed out of the building's doors, however quickly halted. **It** was happening again. Mae didn't think **it** would happen again. All around her everything was… was… _shapes_. The Snack Falcon was constructed of rectangles. Any car that drove by was made of different circles. Squares, circles, triangles, rectangles is all she saw. Mae was the only irregular shape in a town full of perfect polygons. _What's the point in checking on Angus? He'll just be like everyone else. Fake._ Mae thought as despair surrounded her. She curled up into a ball against the rectangle that was the Snack Falcon. Crying, unleashing tears as she thought, _Am I insane? Is everybody else acting normal, and I'm the strange one? Why do I have to experience this again?_

Minutes passed, maybe even an hour, before-

"MAE!" shouted a voice from the direction of the Ol' Pickaxe, down the street. She didn't hear the voice at first, but when it repeated, "Mae!" again she instantly looked up. Shaken out of her thoughts she shouted in her mind, _Angus!_ Mae ran over to the bear in glasses; she hugged him tightly. Angus accepted, and he hugged back.

"Everyone has been acting weirdly. Angus are you normal?" Mae questioned sobbing into his shirt.

"I am. Today has been weird for me too. Is everything around us shapes to you too?"

"Yes! Yes it is!" Mae exclaimed, so happy that she wasn't the only one.

"It seems to be only this part of town. My apartment building and beyond is all normal. I think we should head over to Gregg's and my place, or, um, it's completely my place now." Angus said, frowning as he told the last sentence.

"Did something happen between you and Gregg?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you after we head to my place."

"Ok." Mae replied as she let go of Angus, and they went off.

* * *

Mae instantly slouched on the couch as they both entered into Angus's home. "Do you want anything? I have water, or coffee if you'd like that. It's still technically morning. Eleven forty-five." At the thought of liquid Mae realized she was parched.

"Could I have some water? I feel thirsty."

"Of course," Angus responded. He went into the kitchen, leaving Mae to collect her thoughts. _Are Angus and I the only two here? The only two normal people in this strange Possum Springs? How did this even happen? Hopefully Angus knows something about this situation._ Angus came back with two glasses of water. Mae sat up as he handed her one. "You go first. What happened with you?" Angus asked.

Mae told Angus the events from this morning to the present. She did not need to explain the part where he showed up. When Angus started speaking Mae listened intently. "Interesting. My day was similar. I woke up on the kitchen floor with a huge headache. I had no idea how I ended up in the kitchen, but that's where I awoke. I was going to see if Gregg was ok, however I remembered our breakup, and-"

"Wait! You and Gregg… broke up? How?" Mae interrupted.

"I'll get to that later."

"Sorry, please continue," Mae said eagerly.

"So I knew he was probably at work. He probably was not in the mood to see me. I decided to get ready and go to work. Time later I arrived at Video Outpost Too. My co-worker, who works when I'm not there, was in. She said 'Hi Angus,' and I said hello back. I then told her that I'll take the next shift, but she responded with 'Hi Angus' again. No matter what I said to her she always responded with 'Hi Angus.' It was very peculiar. so I left thinking she was fine with watching the shop. As I left I felt this weird sensation that wasn't right. I thought I might be sick, so I started towards home. On my way back I saw that everything near the Snack Falcon was shapes. Then I saw you. Now we're here."

"What happened between you and Gregg?" Mae asked, the suspense of not knowing bothering her.

"We..." Angus sighed as he spoke, "We were arguing. I asked Gregg about our future, and he said that we would stay in Possum Springs. I told him, 'We should think about getting better jobs. Somewhere better,' but he complained about not seeing you and Bea. We argued some more. He eventually said, 'Eff you Angus!' which made me furious. 'Stop being so immature for once!' I shouted at him. 'You know what Angus? I'm leaving, and I'm not coming back.' Thinking back, I believe he was trying to see my answer. Now, I don't think he meant it at first, but I was infuriated, and I told him, 'Go! I don't want to see you anymore either!' Gregg instantly saddened. 'Fine Angus. I'm going and never coming back.' and that was yesterday."

After hearing the depressing tale of their breakup, Mae sank back in the couch. "Woah Angus. I always thought you two would be a forever couple. I guess Bea was right."

"What?" Angus inquired not quite believing what Mae said.

"Bea thought you two wouldn't last forever. She was right." They sat there on the couch for awhile. Mae took the last sip of her water before Angus started bawling.

"I miss him so much! It's been less than a day, and it feels like it's been months without him."

Mae was surprised by the sudden outburst. She took her left arm, and she patted his back. "Don't worry you big bear. We'll escape this false world."

Angus slowly ceased crying. "That's what we should call this place."

"False world?"

"Yeah! False world, or Fake Possum Springs. Both sound good." Mae thought about it for a second before continuing to talk.

"Ok, False World it is," Mae said happily. Angus yawned, then got up off the couch.

"I think I'll take a nap. We can investigate later how to escape. If you're tired just sleep on the couch." He stretched.

"Ok. I do feel tired too." Angus walked into the bedroom as Mae laid on the couch. She felt sleepy, and she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep. Thinking about how to escape before going into slumber.

* * *

 **End Notes: It appears Mae isn't alone in this False World.**


	3. Investigation

**Author's Notes: Sorry it took me two weeks to get the next chapter out. I work on this almost every other day. This chapter is slightly longer than the first two, not by much though.**

* * *

Mae opened her eyes. It was dark, cold, and she was laying on the ground dazed. _Where is the couch?_ Mae wondered. It was in the middle of the night, and when she looked straight up she could see the full moon, shining beautifully in the sky. She got up realizing she was next to a large building. It felt lonely; when she backed up she saw it was the Food Donkey. _Oh! Now I know where I am, but how did I get here?_ she pondered gazing at the abandoned store. Faintly, Mae could hear something moving from within the building. She had no idea what is was, or **who** it was. _Angus?!_ she tried to shout, but when she opened her mouth no sound came out. The shout just rattled in her head. _What's happening?_ she contemplated. Mae moved to the front door, which was only a few steps away from where she got up. She attempted to open the doors, but they were locked. _Can anyone hear me?_ She tried to say, but yet again, no sound was created. Banging on the front doors of the store created sound, yet she her voice made none. It confused her. Mae felt the sudden urge to blink, so she did. The urge stayed, so she blinked a couple more times. Then she felt like she needed to close her eyes. With her eyes closed came thoughts about her true world. The place where her mom was normal, Bea was normal, and Gregg was normal. Where nothing was false.

Mae opened her eyes. It was sunny, warm, and she was laying on the ground. _Where am I now?_ She wondered. However, she quickly realized that she was still at the Food Donkey. She saw Germ was close by.

"Germ? Is that the real you?" Mae asked him expecting him to be as strange as Gregg, Bea, and her mom.

"Oh, hi Mae didn't notice you." Mae waited for him to say more, so she can confirm he was real. "I'm as real as I can get," Germ said.

"Have you noticed anything strange around town?" Mae questioned, thinking he would tell her about a strange event.

"Nope, normal day today," Germ shrugged, then gave his salutations, "I gotta go. I promised I'd help clean up around the house today." Mae looked at Germ skeptically, but decided to believe he wasn't fake. This place felt real.

"Bye," she responded. Then she wanted to check on everybody else. Turning around, she waved her hand at Germ, heading towards Snack Falcon first. As Mae moved swiftly, she felt a rush of excitement and hope. _Am I back in reality?_ she pondered. The feline reached the Snack Falcon, and she entered expecting to see Gregg. She was disappointed when there was a sheep lady in place of where Gregg usually stands. The lady seemed to be in her early thirties. She was twiddling with pen which implied she was bored. "Have you seen Gregg?" I asked. The sheep lady, which Mae now noticed a nametag that said Sherryl, was startled when Mae spoke up. She threw her pen in the air and gasped. Maybe Sherryl hadn't noticed Mae walk into the building.

"Geez. This place seemed dead. I was not expecting anybody to actually show up," she spoke then smiled. "Could you repeat that question?"

"Do you know who Gregg is? Have you seen him?" Mae asked once again.

"Gregg… Gregg…" Sherryl whispered to herself as if trying to see if the name rang any bells, "Is he that fox that usually wears the black leather jacket?"

"Yep, that's him," Mae told her.

"We know each other slightly. Names and a bit else. He **used** to work here."

"What happened to him?" Mae inquired.

"The manager got fed up with him always skipping work when they realized Gregg didn't show up today. I did work at a different Snack Falcon, but they moved me over to here," Sherryl explained. "Are you his girlfriend or something?"

"No. He's cool and all, but we're just friends. Plus he's dating a nice guy named Angus. I only wanted to know if he was here or not."

"Sorry, but he isn't here."

"Ok bye," Mae told Sherryl as she left. The sheep lady waved back in response. Now Mae wanted to check on Bea next, who was most certainly at the Ol' Pickaxe right now. The cold breeze brushed against her face as she made her way to Bea, but her running turned into a walk. Then her movement became slower and slower and slower, until she dropped to the ground. She wanted to see Bea, but some strange force had pulled her to the ground. She closed her eyes, not willingly, not wanting to go.

* * *

"Hey Mae? Are you awake?" Mae woke up on the couch on which she fell asleep. _It was all a dream?_ Mae asked herself. She leaned up and turned her head towards Angus, who was in the kitchen.

"Yeah," she responded. Mae stretched to get her limbs working. Then stood up from the couch. There was a delightful smell in the air. "What are you cooking?" She transferred over into the kitchen and viewed the pot Angus was handling over the stove. He was stirring with a wooden spoon. Water vapor was rising out of the pot.

"Mac and cheese. I thought you would enjoy it. It's also easy to make," Angus spoke humming a tune unfamiliar to Mae.

"How long have I been asleep?" Mae asked Angus.

"Quite a while. That's why I'm making dinner. If you want to see the time there is a clock in our… my bedroom," Angus said then pointing his left hand towards the bedroom, "This will be done soon." Mae went to the bedroom to check the time. Four Fifty-Eight, almost five exactly. Her slumber was about five hours long! She was about to leave the room when she noticed a paper on a desk. It looked half-written, and when Mae took a closer observation she could tell if was a note for Gregg.

 _Angus must have wrote this while I was asleep,_ she thought, _Angus really misses Gregg._ The note, so far, was apologetic and full of sorrow. There were many erased words signifying that time was put into this note. It looked to be almost finished.

"Mae, it's done," she could hear from the other side of the bedroom door. Mae halted viewing the note and walked into the living room. She noticed Angus was already on the couch, eating, so she sat next to him after taking a plate of macaroni from the kitchen.

"You're too great Angus," Mae complemented, to show her thanks.

"Thanks. It's just a simple dinner," Angus told her. He was being modest, because when Mae took a bite of the macaroni and cheese her mouth bursted with delicious flavor.

"Angus... This. Is. Amazing! What did you do to the macaroni?" She began eating quicker to taste more of the great meal.

"Slow down. I don't want you choking," Angus spoke with slight worry. Mae then put the plate on her lap and grabbed her throat. She made fake choking noises. "Don't worry Mae! I know how to do the heimlich maneuver!" He calmly shouted.

She stopped teasing him and said, "I'm alright. I will slow down."

"Please don't make me panic like that again."

"You sounded like you were not panicking to me."

"In scouts, they taught us how to be more calm in a stressful situation. I was panicking though," Angus replied.

"You still have to tell me what you did to the macaroni."

"I added some seasoning and a secret ingredient. I can't tell you what the secret ingredient is because, well, it's a secret."

"I must know," Mae insisted.

"Nope. Only Gregg and I are allowed to know the secret ingredient." Angus took a second to think about his next topic. "Anyway, you were asleep for quite the while. You were mumbling words, but to quietly for me to hear."

"Yeah, I had this strange, long dream. It was dark, and I was at the food donkey. Then it become sunny. Germ was there. I ran to the Snack Falcon, but Gregg wasn't there; a woman named Sherryl was. Then I woke up. It all felt real and not at all like I was dreaming."

"And you remember it all clearly?" Angus asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Hmm, Dreams are usually strange. Just like this False World we're stuck in." The two of them kept talking for about another ten minutes before finishing eating. They set out on their investigation of False World hoping to find a way out.

 **Three Hours, sixteen minutes later.** They found out a few details about False World. Angus wrote them down in Mae's journal as they found out more details: Note One. S _o far, there is no known way out. We went across the bridge leading out of Possum Springs. As soon as we reached the sign welcoming people into the town there was a barrier of sorts. It was invisible and we could see passed it, but whenever we attempted to walk through the barrier, it glowed and denied access passed it._ Note Two. _There are a lot of strangers around town. Many more than there usually are. They seem to be slowly becoming more dangerous. Some are carrying weapons like knives. Fortunately, they're not using them._ Note Three. _The situation escalated quickly. A stranger followed us and wouldn't stop softly chanting, "Kill. Kill. Kill. Mae. Mae. Mae." We finally decided to try and get away from the stranger, but another stranger, stronger than the first one, yelled, "MUST KILL ANGUS!" He swung at me with a wooden plank and missed. The weaker one slashed at Mae with a knife and cut her back. We were able to run away back to home. When we arrived back Mae let me help with the slash her back. She lifted her shirt. The knife barely did any damage. I simply took a rag, ran it under some water, and cleaned up the tiny knife wound. I put on a band-aid. Other than a few "ows" she didn't at all complain. We need to be careful and sneaky whenever we head outside._ Note Four. _We went to a few other edges of the town. This odd Barrier seems to surround all of Possum Springs. Not only are we stuck in False world, we are also confined to only Possum Springs and nowhere else._ Note Five. _The sun is setting. Our investigation will end soon. As a conclusion, I am sad to say we have found no way of escaping False World. We need to head back to my place before the area gets too dark. We talked about trying again tomorrow. I have high hopes._

They stopped walking to take a short rest because there was nobody around them. They were two houses away from Mae's home. "I wanna see what you wrote." Mae snatched her journal from Angus and began looking over all his notes.

"The people seem to be getting hostile towards us," Angus spoke.

"As long as we are together. We'll get through this," she said reassuringly, still reading the notes. Suddenly, Mae heard a whack, and Angus fell to the ground in front of her. "ANGUS!" she yelled then turned to view who attacked him. _Him?!_

"Heh heh heh," chuckled Mr. Penderson. He picked up unconscious Angus by the arms. Mae grew furious, she wanted to punch the old man for what he did to Angus, but another voice stopped her.

"Mae! Come over here right now!" shouted Stan Borowski, Mae's father. Mae turned around in an instant. She hoped her father would be normal like herself and Angus was.

"Dad, Mr. Penderson is taking Angus. Help me!" she pleaded.

"You don't mess with Mr. Penderson," Stan sternly told Mae as he grabbed her wrist. Mae couldn't escape Stan's ultra-strong grip.

"He came over and attacked Angus! We did nothing!" but Mae's shouts were of no use. She realized her father didn't care. As Stan took Mae into the house, she turned towards Angus who was still being dragged away by Mr. Penderson. One final glimpse before they were separated.

* * *

 **End Notes: Intense ending to the chapter, yeah? Hope you enjoyed chapter three and be on the lookout for the next one :3  
EDITS: Fixed the Penderson issue. Also changed one of Stan's lines.**


	4. Punishment

**Author's Notes: Another two weeks to write a chapter. I had family over for a week after chapter 3 was finished, so I wasn't able to work on this chapter. Now that it's done I'm going to say this chapter _involves torture_ , it's nothing too bad though. I hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

"Let go of me!" Mae screamed. She struggled for release from Stan's grip. Pain was felt on her wrist from all the pressure her father was applying. Home sweet home was the exact opposite of how Mae felt currently. Having Angus taken away from her, and her dad restraining ruined any happy moods. _Home couldn't be any better,_ Mae thought sarcastically. They headed towards the stairs.

He grouched, "Stop fighting back. It won't do any good." However, Mae continued to force her release from his powerful grasp. His voice sounded insane, deeper than usual. As they ascended the stairway Mae got an idea. She bit his arm that was grabbing her wrist. "Ouch!" he shouted in anger. Stan let go of Mae, rubbing the teeth marks. She jumped down the stairs and booked it towards the front door. Though to no use, as her father was somehow quicker. He grabbed the back of her shirt and turned her around. "Are you hungry? I can give you a knuckle sandwich, crafted by ME!" He raised his fist in the air. Mae opened her mouth to shout "No!" but he punched her before she was able to, knocking Mae unconscious.

Mae regained consciousness. She had a pounding headache and had no mobility. When she attempted to move her arms are legs, there were straps containing her. She was laying on some sort of table with bindings. It was dark, except for few candles atop of shelves on the rocky walls and on the floor. The area seemed wet, cold, dank, and then Mae realized where she was located. The basement where she found the tooth in the safe.

"Are you ready for some fun?" asked Stan. He popped his face in front of Mae's, surprising her. She mumbled out gibberish, not noticing the tape over her mouth until now. "Let me help you with that," he spoke as he peeled back enough tape for her to speak.

"Let me out of these straps!" she shouted angrily.

"I cannot do that, or else all this work would be for nothing, and he would be unsatisfied," he said with a crazy smile on his face.

"He?" Mae questioned.

"Don't worry about 'he'. That is none of your concern." Mae spat in his face, and he grew furious, clearing the smile off his face. "Fine! You've lost speaking privileges." Stan applied the tape back onto her mouth. "Now I want to show you my buddy Carver," he expressed menacingly. Stan revealed a large knife. Mae's eyes widened in fear as she thought about what he might do.

 _I can't move. He could easily kill me,_ she thought.

"Carver is going to the side for now. We'll save the best for last." He threw the knife over at the wall, and it fell to the ground making a _clunk_ noise. She was a tad relieved knowing that he wasn't going to use the knife, **yet**. "I have a few things I want to try first. We'll start with something harmless." He went into the darkness for about fifteen seconds, then came back with a feather in hand.

 _What is he going to do with that?_ Mae pondered. Stan took off the shoe, and sock, on Mae's right foot. "This is your tickle spot," he said, pointing at the bottom of Mae's foot as if Mae hadn't already known that, and then he began tickling her. Mae tried to ignore the tickling, but the feather was too much. She gave in, and erupted with unwanted laughter, muffled by the tape on her mouth. A tear swelled in her eye as seconds turned into minutes of laughing. Stan just watching her the whole time, in silence. Mae grew tired of laughing, and fortunately the feeling in her foot became numb causing her father to stop using the feather. After dropping the feather on the ground, Stan went back into the darkness. He came back with a small bottle of unknown substance. It was yellow and in the shape of a lemon, so Mae could assume it was lemon juice. Stan stepped near Mae's face, and using his thumb with his pointer finger, pulled back her eyelids. This prevented her from blinking in her left eye. "I heard lemon juice can help with your eyes, or something along those lines. Let's 'test' it out." He raised the bottle of lemon juice over Mae's eye, smiling. Then he squeezed it, releasing lemon juice into her eye. It stung like hell. Mae tried to blink, to remove the pain in her eye, but with her dad holding open the eyelids it was impossible. After Stan got bored with the lemon torture, he let go of her face, and Mae felt relief as she blinked. He walked off into the darkness again.

 _I have to think of some way out of this before he uses that knife._ Mae examined the room to see if anything was different than usual. With the room flooded in dark, and the only light source being candles strewn around the basement floor; a few on the shelves. She moved her limbs to check if any of the straps were loose enough to break, but unfortunately no. _There's no way out, is this how I die?_

Stan appeared back out of the dark and spoke, "Time to give my fists a turn."

He cracked his knuckle and punched Mae's face with brute force. The pain was awful, but not as bad as what he might be able to do with the knife. He repeated this action a few more times, then shifted over to her torso. At full strength, he slammed his fist into her, knocking the wind out of her.

 _I can't breathe! I can't breathe!_ Mae thought to herself.

"What's wrong _kitten,_ don't feel so well?" Stan taunted. He walked over to the wall and grabbed the knife off the ground. "Carver tells me he wants to join us." Mae shook her head no, anything to stop this torture from continuing. "Don't worry kitten. I'm not allowed to kill you. He gave me specific orders to only cause harm, no death." Mae would've felt glad not to be killed, but the anxiety from the knife was too much. "I want to hear you scream in pain," he said as he removed the tape from Mae's mouth.

"Let me out of here you psychopath!" Mae said as soon as he peeled away the tape from her face.

"But kitten, Carver and I want to-"

"Stop calling me kitten! You're not my real dad. YOU'RE FAKE!" she shouted at him. Mae regretted that.

He stood there silent. Minutes passed until he spoke up. "I was going to go easy on you, but not anymore. I'm going to make this hurt, to make you suffer. You'll feel so much pain you will **never** forget this moment." He stared at her hands. "I wonder? Which finger will I choose?"

"What are you going to do?" she asked nervously. He slowly stepped over to her left hand.

"I suppose you won't be needing this finger?" Mae felt a wave of fear as he aimed the knife pointing at her middle finger.

"What are you d-"before she could finish her sentence, Stan began cutting into her finger. The pain was excruciating, causing Mae to scream out loudly. Stan continued, and when he got to the finger bone he had to apply extra pressure, causing the pain to become unbearable for Mae. Blood was gushing all around her hand and all over the knife. Finally, he was able to chop all the way through the finger. Tears were streaming down Mae's face. She wanted to be with Bea, to get away from this dark basement.

The crying and sadness didn't stop Stan though. He walked over to her right hand. "One finger on the left hand, now let's do one finger on the right," but before he did anything he yelled, "What do you want?" into the dark. Seconds later he says to Mae, "How about we take a break. I have something I need to do." Stan places the knife next to Mae's hand, and he walks away into the darkness. After Mae hears a door open and close she feels safe to try and escape the basement.

 _I need to patch up my hand. There's a first aid kit in the kitchen, if I can get out of here._ She looks at the knife. _He left it where I can grab it! I could use it to cut the strap on my wrist._ Mae maneuvers her hand and picks up the knife. Carefully, she cuts the strap. _I did it!_ She cuts the strap on her other hand, then leans forward, and cuts the straps restraining her legs. Mae hops off the table and looks at her left hand. It was covered in blood and missing a finger. _I can't believe I lost a finger,_ she thought. The sight of this made Mae kneel to the ground and barf all over the floor. _I should hurry,_ she told herself. Before leaving the basement, she stares at the knife. _It's probably best to hold on to this in case have to fend myself from him._ Then she left into the crawlspace.

Exiting the crawl space revealed light other than candles. _I'm so glad to not have to see darkness!_ Mae heard Stan talking in the bedroom down the hall, but that wasn't of her concern. Her bleeding hand was beginning to make her panic, so she went down to the first floor. Looking out the window showed that it was daytime. _It was becoming night time when he took me into the house. I must've been down there for hours!_ Then feeling more pain from the wound on her hand, she rushed into the kitchen. After searching through five cabinets, Mae found the first aid kit. Inside was some chemicals, a sewing needle with string, a bottle of pills, and some bandages. She took the bandages and closed the kit. Quickly, Mae washed the current blood off her hand, then wrapped the bandages around where her finger used to be. The bandages became soaked in blood, but she was happy that she was able to cease her anguish. Holding the knife, she decided to wash it in the sink.

 _I've got to go somewhere._ After some careful thinking, Mae decided to head to Angus' apartment. _I should grab some things before I go._ She headed towards her room, sneaking as to not alert her father that she escaped the basement. In her room, she grabbed a backpack. Mae stuffed it with some clothes, hygienic supplies, her laptop, and anything else in her room that she might need. Her backpack was getting full, and Angus' place should have some food, so there was no need to pack food into the bag. Mae was done packing and threw her backpack over her shoulders, then sneaked out of the house.

On the sidewalk, where Mae and Angus got attacked, was where Mae dropped her journal earlier. She picked it up and skimmed through the notes Angus wrote. She wanted to add another note, and so she wrote: Note Six. _I just survived getting my finger chopped off and other various sorts of torture; it was a horrifying experience. I'm now heading for somewhere safer. Something I have noticed during the investigation with Angus and while being tortured by my own dad is that the people that are fake have murky/foggy eyes. The pupils are less clear. The real people like me and Angus have normal eyes. This could be helpful for finding any actual sane people in this crazy false world._

Mae finished writing and put the journal into her backpack. She was exhausted and wanted to get to her Angus' place to rest. The area near her house was empty of people, but as she walked deeper into town more people appeared. She was less afraid now than down in the basement. To not get attacked, she stayed away from clusters of people, and she kept her head down. Mae held the knife tightly in case she had to use it. She was able to reach Angus' place without harm, and plopped down on the couch once again. Throwing the backpack to the floor, Mae was happy to get some rest. "I promise I'll find you Angus," Mae mumbled to herself as she figured out what to do next.

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 **End Notes: Did you like this chapter? Also, that note that Mae wrote down is important to remember ;3**


	5. Surprise!

**Author's Notes: I know it took forever to make this chapter. Partway through making this chapter I lost the motivation to work on this story. I was thinking about not working on this anymore, but I realized that there are people who like this story (surprisingly), and I gained back the lost motivation. I'm going to keep writing until this story ends. Nothing will get in my way! (Even if I were to die before finishing this story, my spirit will possess somebody and I'll still be writing :P) Also this is the longest chapter currently, so enjoy!**

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"Ow." Mae stared at her left hand, specifically where her finger was cut off. There was a slight pain she could feel. _We should've been more careful. We should have went straight back instead of taking a break. Angus wouldn't have been taken away, and I would still have my effing finger!_ Mae calmed herself, and she began wondering why she was placed into this warped version of Possum Spring until she got up off the couch because her stomach started to rumble. In the kitchen, she searched through the cabinets. A few had a creaking noise when opened. All were devoid of food. Luckily, the fridge was different. It had two apples, three water bottles, and a bottle of ketchup. Mae took an apple and closed the refrigerator door. She decided to go search for Angus after eating. Also, because of the lack of food, Mae would have to go scavenge to restock. She took out her journal and a pen halfway through munching on the apple. Note Seven. _There is not much food here. I'm going to have to look for some, but before I do I'm will try to find Angus. If things go ok, I should find him._ She drew a picture of two apples; one had been bitten. Mae was great at drawing apples, or at least she thought so. It was about time she went for Angus. The first place to search would be Mr. Penderson's house, which was down the street from where Mae lived. Before leaving, Mae would have to find some clothing to conceal her identity. If Mae walks into the street carelessly, she might get attacked again and, worse, get killed. A mask or a something with a hood would work, so she went into Angus and Gregg's closet. Behind the mess of clothing, Mae was able to find a green hoodie almost instantly, and she put it on. It was a bit small making it tight, but still wearable. There was an old, brown stain on the right sleeve, not that that mattered. Also, the hoodie was likely not used in a long time since it was covered in dust. Going back into the living room, she picked up her backpack and knife.

Roughly five hours ago, she arrived back to what is now her temporary home or base. Mae got a marker and drew an outline of a person on the wall. She took her knife, and she practiced slashing at the outline, pretending to fight someone. That is what she did until up to now.

 _At least I didn't lose any fingers on my right hand,_ she thought, mostly because her right hand is what she holds the knife with. Then she left for Mr. Penderson's house. Just like when she was leaving home, Mae kept her head down and held her knife closely. It was strange how everyone slowly walked around the streets, kinda like zombies. No cars drove by; if they did, the car would be halted by people. Some of the people were completely motionless. Some in the middle of walking just completely stopped. Mae was nervous of bumping into one of them and being attacked. Her hand started to shake. _There are so many suddenly. Could the number of strangers be growing?_ she wondered.

Eventually Mae arrived to Mr. Penderson's house. Still safe from any attackers. She hastily opened the front door, which was unlocked, and entered. She took down the hood on her head. Mae was glad to be inside from all the people, but she had to be careful because Mr. Penderson could be anywhere. The house had no lights on. Good thing for Mae was she packed a flashlight into her bag. Taking out the flashlight, she flipped the switch on. No light. She shook it then turned it on again. The flashlight flickered before fully functioning. Brightness wasn't too great, but better than full darkness. Holding the flashlight in her left hand felt weird with a missing finger. The first floor was the same to Mae's home. She cautiously searched the living room and kitchen for any signs of Angus or clues to where he could be. Nothing was found. She would've grabbed food, but she wanted to fully search the house for Angus. Mae then walked up to the second floor, which differed from her house. The top of the stairs instantly led to a door. When Mae attempted to open it, the knob turned fine, however she couldn't push open the door. Mae was scared of forcing the door open because Mr. Penderson could instantly notice and capture her if he was inside. If Mae was given to Stan, who knows what would happen. _I'd probably lose my entire arm._ She put her ear against the door. All that could be heard was silence. _I might as well try._ Mae aimed her shoulder at the door and rammed herself into it. Unsuccessful, she tried again. None of her attempts worked. _I guess if I were able to ram open a door, Bea and I would have easily gotten out of Mrs. Miranda's basement._ After staring at the door, Mae figured out the hinges were on her side. This time after turning the knob, she pulled the door, and it opened easily. "This is officially a worse design than the exit door next to Mallard's tomb," she mumbled to herself. Unfortunately, neither Angus nor Mr. Penderson were found in the room. However, the room, seemingly Mr. Penderson's bedroom, was in complete disarray. An entire dresser was turned over. The pillows and blanket from the bed were scattered on the floor. A vase was broken on the floor. There was even a blood stain in front of Mae. _I hope this isn't Angus' blood._ Although Mae knew that it most likely was his. Then, something on top of one of the pillows caught her attention. It was a piece of paper with words on it.

"If somehow you were freed from your father's captivity, I knew you would come here first. Don't bother looking for your stupid friend. You will never find us." She flipped it over to see the other side.

There were two words written in scribbles. However, Mae couldn't tell what the words were, so she crumpled the note and stuffed it in her pocket. Mae sat on the bed and put her knife down next to her. Out of her bag, she took out a notebook and a pencil. Using the flashlight in her left hand, Mae began to write. Note Eight. _After searching through_ _Mr. Penderson's_ _house, I was unable to find Angus. It seems Angus has written a clue for me in a struggle to escape him. The words are in scribbles. I'll try to figure out what it says later._ She drew a rectangle with scribbles in it to signify the note she found. She put away the notebook and grabbed the knife again. She wanted to scavenge the kitchen for food, so she left the room. After going through the kitchen no food was found. She decided to not waste any more time in the house and leave.

And Mae was, again, able to return back to base safely. Mae took off the hoodie and her backpack. "I'm so exhausted!" she shouted into the air as she jumped onto the beloved couch. The hunger was still there, but Mae was too tired to worry about it right now. She wanted to take a nap, and so she did, falling asleep six minutes later.

"Hey you! Wake up!"

"Shake her more," said another voice

"Is she dead?" asked a third voice. Mae, being shaken, wanted to stay asleep, but she opened her eyes anyways. Mae laid exactly where she was last timed she dreamt. On the sidewalk of Possum Springs when she was heading to the Ol' Pickaxe. The time of day seemed to be earlier than when Mae left Mr. Penderson's house. The three voices who spoke to her were the Harleys. To her left was Cat Harley, to her right was Crocodile Harley and in front of Mae was Bird Harley. They were all jumping up and down enthusiastically.

"How did you do it?" questioned the left Harley.

"It was so cool!" exclaimed the middle Harley.

"Are you a magician?" asked the right Harley.

"What are you talking about?" Mae told them, confused.

"You just appeared," said the left Harley.

"You're magical!" said the middle Harley.

"You poofed out of thin air," said the right Harley.

"You all are saying that I wasn't here, then, suddenly, I just appeared here?" They all nodded in agreement. "Weird," Mae said to herself. They all started to stare at Mae's left hand.

"Woah, what's wrong with your hand?" asked the middle Harley.

"Where did your finger go?" asked the right Harley.

"I think it looks neat!" said the left Harley.

"Uh… It was an accident," Mae lied to them.

"Let's go home. Mom said she would make cookies!" the right Harley said.

Simultaneously, the other two shouted "Yeah cookies!" Then they ran off. Mae stood up from the ground and dusted herself. _I still need to see Bea,_ she told herself, so she continued what she was doing in her last dream.

It only took a minute to walk to the Ol' Pickaxe from where Mae started. When she reached the entrance, the sheep character from her last dream came out. "Oh, hi Mae, were you able to find Gregg?"

"No."

"I see. Well, have a nice day," Sherryl smiled before walking passed Mae. Mae entered the Ol' Pickaxe. The moment she saw Bea she gave a huge smile.

"BEA!" she shouted as loud as she could. Bea turned to Mae in bewilderment. Mae jumped over the counter and sprinted towards Bea, putting Bea into a tight embrace. Bea was surprised by the quick hug and didn't know what to do. Mae just closed her eyes and wouldn't let go, so Bea decided to hug back. "You are real, right?" Mae whispered to Bea.

"O-of course I am." Bea didn't know how to react to the large amount of affection from Mae. Bea began to blush, and she wanted to cease this strange, unknown feeling. She stopped hugging Mae then asked, "Could you stop hugging me?" Mae let go and took a step back.

"Heh, sorry," she apologized.

Bea examined her and noticed how dirty and bruised she was, and Bea also noticed her finger was missing. "What happened to you? Did you do something stupid again?"

"Again? I never do anything stupid," Mae said sarcastically with a grin. Although she quickly switched tones, "You might not believe me, but I came from another dimension, or universe, or… I don't know, somewhere else."

Bea didn't believe her, but decided to listen to Mae anyway. "What exactly occurred in the other 'dimension'?" Bea inquired.

"It all started the day after we returned to Possum Springs…"

After half an hour passed, they were both sitting on chairs in the backroom of the store, and Mae finished telling her story. She tried her best to tell every detail of what ensued. Bea's mouth was agape, one-hundred percent shocked at the whole spiel Mae gave. "Are you sure you're telling the truth, Mae? This is hard to believe," Bea spoke.

Mae showed her left hand to verify the story. "This is my proof. You have to believe me Bea!" Mae was serious enough to convince her.

"Fine. I completely believe you," Bea paused for a moment, "So you're saying that right now you are in a dream?"

"I… I think so."

"That's not true. This is real."

"I could just be dreaming that you are trying to convince me that I'm not dreaming. Talking to you right now is probably pointless. It does feel nice though to see you again, dream or not dream."

"You proved to me that your story is true. Let me prove to you that this isn't a dream."

"Bea, why the sudden boost of determination? This doesn't seem like the usual you."

Bea got up from her chair. "Because you are in an effed up situation, and you're my best friend. I want to help you!" Bea said confidently.

Mae also got up from her chair. "Ok, Bea. Even if everything else is a part of this dream, you're real to me. Best available friend?" Mae stuck out her hand.

Bea **smiled** and grabbed her hand. "Always, Maeday, always." They shook hands.

"I trust you Bea. You still have to prove everything else is real though."

"Don't worry, Maeday. I have a plan." Still holding her hand, they walked over to a mini fridge that was in the corner of the room. "I don't know if this'll work, but it's worth a shot. Are you still hungry?"

Mae had forgotten that she was starving, and after thinking about food her stomach growled, "I am now."

"Good." Bea opened the mini fridge and took out a ziploc bag containing a sandwich. "If you eat this and you wake up not hungry anymore, that should be enough to prove that this isn't a dream. Right?"

"Yeah! Eating in a dream won't fill me out of it."

"Then here eat this," Bea said holding out the sealed sandwich. Mae grabbed it from her and took it out of the plastic bag. She gobbled down the sandwich hungrily; it tasted great.

"I feel good now, but just to make sure I'm really full, is there anything else I can eat?"

"Um, maybe." Bea examined inside the fridge. There was only an old slice of pizza on a paper plate. "I should bring more food to work…" Bea murmured to herself.

"What did you find?" Mae curiously asked.

Bea took out the old slice of pizza. "This was the only other thing. It has been in there for a couple weeks, so you probably shouldn't-" Then Mae snatched the pizza and began munching on it. "Wait, Mae, I don't think you should be eating that."

"Better… safe than… sorry," Mae told, in between bites.

"Watching you eat that is gross."

Mae gulped the last bit of pizza crust before saying, "That wasn't so bad."

Bea looked at her suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

"Totally!"

 **Five minutes later.** "Second worst decision of my life!" Mae shouted before puking all over the floor. Obviously, she regrets eating that pizza.

"Stop barfing! I'm going to have to clean this all up!" Bea ran out of the room and came back with a bucket, throwing it towards Mae. It landed in front of her, and Mae shoved her face into the bucket, still puking. "How can one slice of pizza create this much barf!?" Bea shouted, slightly amazed by the amount of vomit.

After the Mae got all the vomit out of her system, she took her face out of the bucket. "Sorry Bea, I shouldn't have ate that."

"I'll go get a mop. You just sit down." Mae nodded, and Bea left the room. This time when she came back, Bea had a mop and a marker.

"What's the marker for?" Mae questioned sitting in a chair.

"I have a second idea in case the first one doesn't work," Bea handed Mae the marker, "Mark yourself. If you wake up with the mark still on you then that's more proof."

"Ok. Sounds good," Mae said. Bea shifted to the pool of vomit next to the mini fridge and started mopping. Mae put the red marker in her left hand. She drew on the back of her right hand. The symbol she drew was the same circle and slash as on her shirt, except bright red. It was sloppy since she drew using her left hand, but sloppiness didn't matter. A few minutes later, Bea leaned the mop against the wall and sat in the chair across from where Mae sat.

"I'll worry about the rest of it later," Bea spoke before sighing, "Please never eat expired pizza ever again."

"I'm not planning on it." Mae did not know what to talk about, so she waited for Bea to say something.

And after twenty seconds of silence, Bea spoke, "How do you 'wake up'? I mean, how do you go back to the false world?"

Mae put her hand on her mouth as a thinking pose, "It's like I already said. I kinda just faint and wake back up there. I couldn't control when it happened."

"Do you think it's possible for me to go to the false world with you?"

"It's too dangerous."

"Mae, you need help. We could find Angus, and the way out together."

"I **would** like to have you with me. I don't know a way to have you come with me though. Maybe we could find a way?"

Bea realized something before telling Mae, "Do you think the cult could be behind this whole thing?"

"I don't know. I thought we killed them off when we trapped them in the cave." Suddenly, Mae began to feel extremely tired. She got up from her chair, and her movement was slowed tremendously.

"Mae, I swear, if you barf all over the floor again."

"No Bea… I'm… I'm…" Then Bea realized Mae was about to faint, but there was nothing she could do as Mae fell to floor and everything went black.

Mae awoke on the couch back in false world. _Was it real?_ was the first question Mae asked herself. _I… I'm not hungry anymore!_ In fact she could still feel a little bit of vomit in her mouth. She stared at the back of her hand too. _The symbol still exists. Oh my god…_ "Reality! I just came back from reality! I can sleep myself into reality!" Mae shouted, jumping around excitedly. She was going to explode with happiness. "I have to tell Bea that her ideas worked." She laid back onto the couch and closed her eyes. "...I guess I'm not tired enough. I did just sleep… I think?" _Ok, calm down. What should I do next?_ _I may not be hungry anymore, but I should still get some food for later. The Snack Falcon is close by…_ Mae put back on the green hoodie and her backpack. She grabbed the knife too.

 **At the snack falcon. Mae just arrived.** _I'm going to grab every snack I see,_ Mae thought as she just started shoving a bunch of food into her backpack. Every bag and wrapped treat. She even took many of the cans of soda in the freezer. _I'm almost done taking everything._ Mae was so busy trying to get food that she did not notice the leg extended in front of her. She tripped to the ground, and when she turned around to see who it was that tripped her she couldn't believe who it was. _Gregg…_ He had a huge smile on his face. Mae observed his eyes. They were normal like hers and not all the fakes, which meant he was real! "Gregg! You're here too?" Mae got up to hug him, but before she could Gregg punched her in the face and pushed her back to the ground. She dropped the knife, and he picked it up in his right hand. Mae didn't understand what was happening; she was confused. Gregg opened his mouth to speak,

"Hey Mae…

...Surprise!"

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 **End Notes: I wanted to leave this chapter with suspense. Why would Gregg have hurt Mae? He isn't fake like everyone else. This Gregg _is_ real. You'll have to see on the next chapter. (Which shouldn't take more than a month to create, hopefully)  
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 **Search up who the Harleys were in case you forgot or didn't know who they are. I would give a link to the wiki, but I can't do that here :'3**

 **Edits: Changed reason why Mae left Mr. Penderson's house.**


	6. Hatred

**Author's Notes: Remember in my last chapter when in the end notes I said, "You'll see on the next chapter. (Which shouldn't take more than a month to create, hopefully)" HAHAHAHA, _it took more than a month..._ Recently however I have begun to push myself to work on this story everyday even when I don't want to. The great thing to look at now is that at least chapter 6 is done now. I hope you enjoy chapter 6! I really do.  
**

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"I'm finally glad I get to see you here, Mae." Gregg gave a maniacal laugh. Mae was still on the floor after being pushed. She put her hand where he had punched her,

directly under her right eye. Mae had no clue as to why Gregg was being violent.

"Gregg, why did you punch me?"

"It felt amazing." He had a grin that grew wider.

"What do you mean?"

"Hitting you. It was probably the best feeling of my life." He threw the knife all the way across the store. The knife landed next to the front door. He readied his fist again, then punched Mae with all his might on her nose. Her nose was in deep pain. "I see why your dad had so much fun torturing you."

Mae instantly opened her mouth to speak, "How do you know about that?"

"I have a very simple answer. I'm the one who ordered him to do it."

"I… I don't understand."

"Of course you don't," he closed his eyes shaking his head, "I guess the main reason I showed myself today is to reveal something."

Mae was not sure whether or not she wanted to know about this 'reveal'. The fact that this was the true Gregg was scaring her. "W-What is it?" she asked reluctantly.

"I'm **master** of this world, and I've been given special powers." He raised his arm. After that a snack, that was on a nearby shelf, floated into the air. "As each second passes by, I can feel myself growing stronger. Stronger. STRONGER!" Mae was too afraid to speak. "What's wrong? Too impressive?" He pointed to her, and the snack flew right at her. It landed at her legs, but didn't hurt because of how soft it was. He was having fun toying with her.

She began to talk again, "But why are you against me? I'm your friend."

"FRIEND?!" Gregg shouted losing the smile, his frustration showing. "You think we're friends!? Friend is the worst word to describe us! I hate you!" The lights were flickering every few seconds. Some snacks began to rise into the air on their own. Mae could feel herself about to cry. "I could kill you here right now, but… but the time isn't ready yet. I **have** to wait for the right time."

"Gregg… why? Why do you hate me? What could have caused this?" Mae turned her head away from him. She was too afraid to stare at him. A fake version of her father she can sort of handle, but the real version of one of her closest friends?

"I had a feeling you would ask this." Mae could feel the neck of her hoodie being grabbed. Gregg pulled her up to his face. She couldn't do anything else but to look at him. At this point, tears were strolling down Mae's face. "As soon as you arrived back in town I was excited to see you. I couldn't stop planning about fun things to do, but then there was her. You went with Bea. Always with her. You never hung out with me! All I wanted was to hang out with you! You were **my** best friend!"

It was tough, but Mae found the courage to speak up. "Well... at least you had Angus! I felt like Bea needed me. Bea was my friend too, and I just wanted to help her," she told him, through tears and fear, "I'm sorry. Let's get Angus and escape out of false world. We could hang out, just you and me."

He gave out a snicker. He calmed down and told her, "It's too late." Then Gregg just turned around and began to leave.

Mae shouted, "Wait! What about Angus? I know you two had that fight, but doesn't he still matter to you?" Gregg completely stopped, as if he was thinking of what to say next.

He turned around. His expression and tone was complete seriousness. **"You and Angus can go rot in a ditch,"** he muttered under his breath. Then he continued to the exit. The door at the front opened in less than a second. After he left, the lights stopped flickering, and all the snacks that were floating gravitated to the ground. Mae wanted to cry more, but instead she stood up, walked over to her knife, and grabbed it off the ground. She stared at it for a while, then Mae returned to her looting, continuing to take snacks and such. After her bag was full to bursting, she left the Snack Falcon.

Mae safely made it back to the building with Angus' home. She exited the elevator, entering the hallway. There was a woman roaming down the hallway. Mae held her knife tightly in case she needed to use it. The woman was chanting, "Who is? Who is?" Mae could tell from her eyes that she was fake, and, from the pocket knife, that she was dangerous. She had to get past the woman to get back to base. _I've done some practice. If I have to, I can use my knife for self defense. What should I do?_ Mae took a step forward curious as to how the woman would react. The woman, who was still staring at Mae, took a step forward as well. _Maybe this won't end badly?_ Mae thought. Nope wrong. The woman realized who was in front of her, then shouted, "It's Mae! It's Mae!" She ran with full speed. Mae quickly backed up, but hit the wall behind her. With no other options, Mae had to take the blow. The woman lunged at Mae and pushed the pocket knife deep into Mae's left shoulder. Mae screamed in pain, then returned the favor by slashing at her chest. The woman gasped, backed up, and ran. Mae didn't want to keep fighting her, so she let the woman run away into the still-open elevator. "You gonna regret," the woman said before the elevator doors closed.

Mae rushed into base. The pain from the pocket knife she wanted to end. She ran into the kitchen after throwing the bag and her knife onto the couch. She found a mini mirror. The mirror was put on the counter so that Mae could see herself. She found a rag and some bandages; placed them right next to the mirror. She took off her hoodie throwing it to the floor. Now time to take the knife out. Mae didn't know whether or not to pull quickly or slowly. _The quicker the less pain right?_ She yanked the knife out of her shoulder. "Ouch!" Her shoulder went through immense pain for two seconds then the pain stopped slightly. Mae lifted up her sleeve, wet the rag, and used it to clean the wound. Then she bandaged the wound. Moving her arm at all now caused Mae to feel a tiny sting. _It's not that bad. And why is the left side of my body prone to pain?! I'm going to sit for a bit._ Mae did exactly what she was thinking, and sat on the couch for awhile. Soonafter, she decided to get up and put the snacks away in the kitchen. Then she cleaned the blood off of her knife. _Does hurting somebody in false world hurt somebody in reality?_ Mae wondered. After finishing she thought about what to do next. _I should see Bea… if I can fall asleep._ Mae laid down attempting to fall asleep. She cleared her mind and slowly drifted away.

Mae awoke in a dark room. Little light shined from the entryway to the room, and Mae was able to find a switch filling the entire room with light. She was still in the backroom of the Ol' Pickaxe where she fainted earlier. "Bea!" Mae yelled to see if she was in the store. Mae heard footsteps coming towards her. Until Bea's head poked in to check out the room.

"Oh, Mae you're back," Bea spoke nonchalantly, "I did a few things while you were in false world." The two both sat down in the chairs they sat in previously. Bea closely examined Mae's face noticing a bruise under her right eye. "How did you get injured? Did Stan get a hold of you again?"

Mae replied with a lie, "No. It was nothing serious."

"Do you want something cold for that?" Bea asked, and Mae nodded yes. Bea went to the mini fridge in the room, and she came back to give a bag of ice. Mae retrieved it from her and put it against her bruise which felt better. "I've been wondering about whether or not those ideas worked. The ideas to prove that this is reality." Mae happily gave a thumbs up. Bea did not show it, but Mae could tell that she was glad.

Mae examined the floor. "I see you cleaned up my-"

Bea facepalmed, and in disgust told Mae, "Please! Please don't remind me. Cleaning up that mess was a nightmare. A nightmare!"

Mae snickered then spoke, "You said you got a few things done?"

Bea gave a quick nod. "After you disappeared, I closed the store temporarily to go talk to your parents."

Mae took special notice to when Bea said disappeared, "Why did you say disappear? What happened to me after I fainted?"

"A minute or so after you fainted, you literally just disappeared. Nothing special, just gone."

"And because of the Harleys, I can assume I also just appear when I enter into reality," Mae mumbled to herself, although Bea could still hear.

"The Harleys?" she questioned.

Mae nodded. "Yeah. They saw me appear on the street before I first came here. Anyway, continue with what you did while I was gone."

"First, I decided to tell your parents about the whole situation. I knocked on their door, and when they saw me they were mostly worried. I sat in the living room with them. They kept asking me questions about you. I told them a basic summary of what you've been through. Although, I could see their doubt. It **is** hard to believe. They thought it's more likely you got kidnapped."

"I don't want them to think I got kidnapped. They should believe the truth."

"Hmm… We could show you to them. You can tell them the whole story yourself. That would be the perfect proof."

Mae's voice dropped. "N-no. I can't."

"Why not?" Bea asked. Mae glimpsed at her missing finger, and Bea then figured out why. "He is not going to hurt you. He's your real father."

"I know that, but…"

"Mae," Bea sighed, "I won't force you to see your parents. Just know they're worried about you right now. Both of them."

Mae looked away. "Yeah ok," she mumbled.

"Good. The other thing I wanted to tell you is that I got you some more food in case you might need it. In the fridge."

Mae perked up. "I already stockpiled on snacks in the false world. I don't need your food, but I'll see what you got me anyway."

"Go ahead." Then Mae walked over to the mini fridge in the corner of the room. Opening it revealed multiple sandwiches each in ziploc bags. Mae asked what was on the sandwiches, and Bea replied, "They're all peanut butter and jelly."

"Wow Bea! Thanks for the variety," Mae said sarcastically.

Bea shrugged. "Whatever. So, last time we spoke I was going to suggest that the cult might be the cause for all of this. It's the most likely answer."

Mae went back to her chair. "Actually Bea, I have some bad news." Mae paused.

Bea noticed Mae did not want to say her next though but still asked,"What is it?"

Mae could not figure how to phrase her idea, so she just blurted out whatever came to mind. "Gregg! He's the reason!"

"Huh? He's the last person I'd expect to cause all this."

Mae threw her arms up into the air in agreement. "I know right! It's terrible."

"We are talking about the real Gregg, right? Not one of those fakers?" Bea asked for reassurement.

"One hundred percent sure! His eyes were real like mine and Angus'. He came up to me and explained that he was the master of the world. He then did some strange magic... and he also hurt me."

Bea got angry. "He did what?! He can't do that to you! Wait, is that how you got the bruise?! I'm going to punch that fox!" Bea made a fist with her hand.

Mae began to lean out of her chair, "Please don't get mad. He may be the real Gregg, but something is wrong. He needs help. Serious help."

Bea calmed. "Just stay away from him for now. I don't want him to hurt you again. Tell me honestly the next time something huge happens." Mae nodded to agree with Bea.

"He also was the one who ordered Stan to torture me," Mae decided to tell her now. Bea got out of her chair over to Mae.

"May I look at your finger, or I mean where it used to be?" Mae straightened her left arm for Bea to examine. Bea unwrapped the bandages enough to take a look at it. "We should get you to a hospital. Doesn't have to be today though, just in the near future." Then Bea wrapped the bandage back and sat in her chair. "Thanks for telling me about Gregg. Did he ever specifically say that he was the one who put you and Angus in the false world?"

"No. He didn't."

Bea leaned back in her chair. "Uugh! Then we still don't know the cause for all this. All we know is that Gregg is powerful, and he is apparently the leader."

"What should we do next?"

"We need a plan," Bea paused to think, "I suggest we make one now."

"Sounds good to me."

The two of them sat there, discussing about their plan of what next. They spoke for a whole hour before they settled on the plan. Bea's job is to stay as close to the Ol' Pickaxe as possible in case Mae ever pops in. She has to keep Mae informed about events occurring in reality and find clues about the cause of false world. Mae's job is to keep searching for Angus. After Angus is found, Mae can search for an exit again. A way out of false world.

"That took forever to plan," Bea said, sighing as she spoke, "I need to go to the front desk. I think I heard a customer call for staff."

"Okie dokie BeaBea." Mae winked. Bea just sighed again and walked out of the room. _I'll just wait here._ Mae waited… Eventually she began to feel slow and weak. She knew what was going to occur, so she let it happen as she fainted in her chair.

Mae awoke on the couch again. Yawned. "Ok we have a plan now. I must find Angus," Mae mumbled to herself. She then looked into her backpack and pulled out her journal. With pencil in hand, she wrote. Note Eight. _I visited Bea today. In reality of course, since I can now sleep my way into reality. Anyway Bea and me made some plans. Basically, I need to find Angus and escape, and Bea will help me in reality. I hope to get this whole thing over with soon._ Mae realized something was missing then added in: _If possible I'll save Gregg too._

Mae stared at the ceiling. She released a tear. "Gregg…

I wish I knew the full truth."

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 **End Notes: I put more effort into revising this time. I also had more scenes I wanted to put together in this chapter, but I've decided to move it over to next chapter. I should be able to get chapter 7 out quicker since I'm going to be working almost everyday now.**

 **Also... Gregg's leader? WHAT? Leader of the false world? Why would the real Gregg hurt Mae? What's the full truth? My answer to you, I guess you'll have to wait and see to have your questions answered. *Insert suspense here***


	7. Hopeless

**Author's Notes: Woo! It took me less than a month to make this chapter, which is my goal for all future chapters. This chapter gets a bit spicy, so I hope you are prepared. Enjoy!**

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It's been two weeks since the encounter with Greggory. Nothing much has happened though. Mae would search for Angus and practice with her knife. When time to go to sleep, Mae would visit Bea in her dreams. However, today was different. All day long Mae was searching for Angus, and she decided to take a break. She had hiked to the other side of town away from base, and Mae was too tired to walk back right now. She also couldn't take a break in the middle of the street. The events from when Angus were taken away might repeat. The best option was to get inside a building and take a break there. After Mae rests she can make her way back to base. Mae went to the nearest building, which was a one-story house, and made her way indoors. Fortunately, the front door was unlocked. Mae checked every room for signs of danger. Nobody else was inside. Safe, she locked herself in the bedroom and laid herself on the wide bed. The bed which had two pillows and a purple blanket was in the corner of the room. There was a window right next to the bed, but the blinds were closed. A clock hung on the wall over the bedroom door.

Mae searched through her bag. Out of it she took out a journal. Mae didn't want to write in it, just review her notes so far. _Not that much has been written in here huh? Geez! Will I ever find Angus? I mean where could Penderson have taken him? I've probably searched through half of Possum Springs by now. This sucks!_ she thought to herself. When replacing the journal into her bag, she found a slip of paper. Mae looked at it and remembered it was the note she found at Mr. Penderson's house. _I completely forgot about this._ On one side was the note from the kidnapper, Mr. Penderson, and on the other side was a scribble that seems to have been made from Angus in a moment of struggle. It was hard to even comprehend that these were words. The scribble seemed more like Angus was just trying to fill the paper with as many lines as possible. "What were you trying to tell me Angus? Why couldn't you have written better?" Mae inquired, not that any answers would be given. Examining super closely, Mae figured out it was two words or possibly one long word. She also thinks that the first letter might be an F, although she is not sure. Mae began to get frustrated, her only clue being something so ridiculously hard to read, and she shoved the slip of paper back into her bag. She was beginning to lose hope of ever finding Angus. _Bea will help me calm down. I just need to talk to her._ She gazed at the hanging clock which read six thirty-two. It was also in the afternoon. Something Mae and Bea noticed when conversing once was that false world is three hours ahead of time than in reality - at least for Mae's time zone. For example, when she wakes up in false world, it should be three thirty-two. Mae takes off her hoodie, sighs, and tries to go to sleep. Eventually passing out from exhaustion.

Mae opened her eyes and gets up off the floor. She stretched, raising her arms high into the air. Mae had fainted behind the counters last time, so that is where she woke up now. The whole store was dark except for sunlight coming through the front windows. Bea was nowhere in the building. Mae waited a few minutes to see if she would return, although it did not seem so. _I guess I won't see Bea right now. What should I do?_ Every time Mae has entered reality Bea was always nearby. Mae usually would talk to her then eventually faint back into false world. Mae jumped over the counter and walked up to the store window. Gazing at the cars that would drive by and the people that would pass by. _It's been so long since I've been outside_. Mae referring to the outside of the real world. _Actually, I feel like going outside right now!_ She shoved the store door open, rushing to get outside.

In the middle of the sidewalk was Mae, her arms out wide as if she was going to hug the outside itself. **It was amazing**. A breeze was blowing against her fur, which felt nice. She breathed in the outdoor air. The great, fresh air made Mae feel much better. In false world, the air felt as fake as everything else. _It's nice to get a fresh breath of reality._ Mae still wanted to see somebody though, it gets lonely in false world. _Maybe Selmers is available?_ Mae walked casually over to Selmer's house taking in as much of reality's outside as she could. At the part of the road where the street begins to go downhill, Mae could see Selmers sitting on her porch. She jogged down the rest of the road. When Selmers noticed Mae approaching her she released a slight gasp.

Selmers began talking when Mae reached up to her, "Hey."

"Hi Selmers," Mae waved her hand, "I have a lot to tell you."

"Is it about how you've been missing?" Selmers asked.

"Yeah, how did you know I was missing?"

"Your parents wanted me to help make a missing person poster. It just so happens to be you. I asked them why you had gone missing, and they were not too sure. They think you got kidnapped," Selmers spoke with a relaxing tone.

"I didn't get kidnapped… exactly."

"What happened?"

"I'm stuck in another world that is a false version of Possum Springs, and I can visit reality by sleeping. That's a very basic summary of the hell I have been through."

"Hmm," Selmers was thinking, "Doesn't seem believable."

"Yeah… I didn't think you would believe me."

"I never said I don't believe you. I think you're telling the truth. What reason would you have to lie?"

"Really? I'm so glad to hear that!" Mae was happy that Selmers believed her.

"I made a poem for you while you were missing." Mae sat on the steps next to where Selmers was sitting. Selmers began to speak, "Where did you go? It fills me with woe. Was it a kidnapping? Were you taken away? When will you come back? Hopefully today."

Mae clapped. "That was great, as usual with your poems."

"Thank you." Selmers gave a cute smile. They held a conversation for a while longer before Mae felt she had to go.

"Ok. I am going to go now." Mae stood up and got back onto the sidewalk. She wanted to return to the Ol' Pickaxe to check if Bea had came back. "Could you tell my parents to stop making the missing person posters?"

"Sure, but why?" Selmers replied.

"Those missing person posters won't do anything! Nobody will be able to find me because I'm in a completely different world most of the time."

Selmers gave a thumbs up. "See you later Mae."

"Definitely." Mae made her way back to the Ol' Pickaxe. The lights were on now. Mae went inside, although Bea was not at the counter. She moved towards the backroom. Bea was sitting in there doing nothing. Mae announced her presence, and Bea looked over.

"When did you get here?" Bea inquired.

"Probably like twenty minutes ago? I went to talk with Selmers because you were not here."

"Sorry about that. I had to help with a customer."

"It's fine. Why are you just sitting here doing nothing."

"I was waiting here for you."

"Well I'm here now." Mae smiled.

Bea smiled back. "I've been doing some thinking. We know that Gregg is the leader. That does not necessarily mean he created false world."

Mae interrupted her, "But it's still a possibility."

"Yes, it is. Though I have been wondering about that cult."

"I thought we killed them off?"

"I also think that, but what if they somehow survived?"

"I… I don't know," Mae replied.

"Our only two logical options for the cause of false world are Gregg or the cult."

"What if false world just existed on its own? Nobody **had** to create it."

"Ok then. Let's look at it from a different angle. Who put you in false world?" Bea asked, already having an answer ready.

"Most likely Gregg."

"Yeah, and who put **him** in false world?"

"Oh um…"

"Exactly. I don't think he just stumbled into false world."

"But what if he did stumble into false world?"

Bea shrugged. "I like to think somebody put him there. Anyway, let's talk about something else. I don't want to think too much about false world right now." Mae happily agreed. Bea began talking about how Possum Springs was doing and about other random events unrelated to false world. They spoke for about an hour. Mae enjoyed talking to Bea, but then they came to the topic of Angus.

"How are things going on the Angus hunt?" Bea wondered.

Mae got reminded of how stressed she was feeling. "I… I don't think I'll find Angus."

"What do you mean? You just need to keep searching."

"Bea..." Mae could feel tears appearing in her eyes. She suddenly just broke down. "It's hopeless."

"Don't say that. It's-"

"I'll never find him. I am just stuck endlessly searching for him. I'll never find a way out. He's probably dead. I'm probably going to die too."

"Mae, stop it."

"No. I think you should stop helping me because I'm a lost cause."

"You're not a lost cause."

"It is, Bea. It's the truth. I'm not worth it. I should just rot away in false world."

"Mae you're being irrational right now."

" **IT'S HOPELESS!"** Mae screamed catching Bea off guard. "That's exactly what we both know!"

Bea tried her best to diffuse the situation. "Mae you are stressed. I understand how you feel. Calm down and we can talk about it."

Mae pointed her anger at Bea. "Shut up! You don't know at all how I feel. Living in reality while I'm always in false world afraid of dying every day. You've been nothing but no help."

"Excuse me? I've been helping you whenever I can. I have closed the store early multiple times just for you. I've been all around town trying to figure things out just for you. And other things! Just. For. You. And here you are trying to tell me I have been of no help?"

Mae got angrier. Her emotions taking over, she took the chair and threw it at Bea. The chair was wooden, so it broke easily as it **smashed Bea in the head**. Mae then tackled her, throwing all her body force into Bea's chest. Bea stumbled backwards and fell. Mae gasped as she realized what she had done. Mae had hurt Bea much like Gregg had hurt herself. "I… I…" Mae's voice quivered as she spoke. She backed up to the wall. Bea slowly arose, her hand on her forehead of which began to bleed. She stared at Mae who was terrified of what she just did. "Please… Please take me back to false world. I want to go back to false world," Mae whispered desperately.

Bea pointed the palm of her hand to Mae to signify stop. "Mae, wait! It's fine. I'm ok. You don't have to leave."

"Anywhere but here!" Mae shouted.

"Wait. Don't g..." Bea coughed and fell back to the ground. Bea could not do much else before Mae fainted then disappeared. "No… Mae…"

Mae awoke on the bed from before she fell asleep. "What the eff did I just do?!" she screamed at herself. "I can't believe I just did that! I'm a terrible person!" Mae started freaking out, throwing her backpack on the floor. Ripping empty pages out of her journal. Anything to unleash the fury she had towards herself. "I'm stupid! I hurt Bea! I deserve to die here!" These were all statements she spoke on her furious tangent. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" As she yelled cracks in the wall began to form. She still needed to vent out more anger, so she screamed again, "AAAAAH!" Mae took a glimpse at her knife which she had thrown on the floor. She started to think thoughts of hurting herself, but quickly stopped the terrible thinking. Realizing that her current anger resulted in nothing, she sat against the side of the bed. Mae now felt more guilt than anger. _I have to apologize to her!_ she thought. _No… Not now. I need some space from her. Time to think about what to say. I can't just appear and say 'Sorry Bea. I threw a chair at your head. Oops.' ...Or could I? No._ Mae stood up. _For now I should keep searching for Angus. I Need to find him no matter what happens._ Mae then noticed the mess she made, especially the cracks in the wall. _I never hit the wall, did I?_ It was odd that cracks just appeared on the wall like that. She remembers it occurred when she was screaming. _I screamed and the walls started to fall apart? That doesn't make any sense! Then again nothing here makes any sense at all_. She went over and examined her journal that was on the floor. _Luckily I did not rip any pages out with stuff on it. Hey, where's my pencil?_ Mae finds it in her backpack, and she began to write. Note Eight. _I did something terrible, I hurt Bea. Nothing small like a slap on the wrist. I threw a chair at her and tackled her to the ground. It would make me feel better if I rampaged on somebody else, but it was Bea. Now I feel like the worst person on Earth. And she probably doesn't want to see me right now. However I must keep searching for Angus._ Mae finished off the note with a drawing of her crying. "Time to find Angus," Mae whispered. She checked the clock on the wall, which had the time of seven forty. Looking out the window, Mae could see the sun was setting making the sky appear orange. _Well, maybe not tonight._ She prefered searching for Angus in the daytime. Also, she was far from base being on the other side of town. It would probably take twenty to thirty minutes to walk back, so now is an excellent time to return. Mae put her journal back in the bag and left the house. Though her hoodie was accidentally thrown under the bed, and Mae forgot to put it back on.

 **Nine minutes later.** Mae was casually walking, quietly on her way back to base. "I think I found her! We must kill her!" shouted a husky, female voice near Mae.

 _Did somebody find me?!_ Mae's mind shouted. She went to pull the hood over her head but noticed her hoodie was left at the house. _Damn! I must have left it back in that house. I gotta run._ Mae clutched her knife and ran swiftly away from the direction of the voice. Up ahead the sidewalk turned to the right. _If they are following me, then I might be able to lose them around this corner._ Mae turned the corner.

" **Oof!"**

She ran straight into somebody. The one that got bumped fell backwards, hitting his back against the sidewalk. Mae fell backwards as well. He sat up speaking, "Ow, that didn't feel great at all." Mae stared at him. He was a grey cat around the height of Mae. He wore a light blue shirt with a red X on it, and dark blue pants. She didn't take much more time to examine him, for Mae felt she was in danger. Still clutching the knife, Mae got up and ran at him. When she got close, he kicked her leg then Mae fell onto him, dropping the knife by their feet. "Drain! I need you!" he shouted looking around frantically.

 _Who the hell is Drain?_ Mae pondered.

"Where is he?" he muttered anxiously. Mae readied her fist, fearing that she would not be able to retrieve the knife.

 _What the…_ She examined his face. There was an old scar above his left eye, and his eye color was bright orange. However, more importantly, his eyes were **normal**. This meant that he is real. She had never seen this person before. _Did Gregg know him? I always thought false world was created to torture only me and Angus. Am I wrong?_ Mae's hesitation was enough for him to gain advantage. The grey feline grabbed her shoulders and rolled both of them around so that he was on top. The grey feline quickly retrieves the knife by their feet, then aims it for her head. _The tables have turned. What do I do?!_

There was a person on her. He was real just like her, yet he had a knife aimed right for her head. With his body weight pressing onto her, Mae could not move. She could try to punch him, but he would stab her quicker than she could hit him. She could try to say something, but Mae was filled with fear she couldn't open her mouth. There was nothing she could do to get out of this situation. If only he knew that Mae was real.

 _This is it… I'm going to die!_

* * *

 **End Notes: Ended with suspense! I feel bad for Mae. She has been going through so much stress, and here she is about to die. Let's all wish her the best of luck in this terrible situation. Also,** **I'm curious about any theories people might have for this story. To those of you who have come from Nitw Amino, I _might_ start a theories chat for this story.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and be on the lookout for the next one :3**


	8. Darkness

**Author Notes: It's only been a week since the last chapter and I already have chapter eight completed. WOO! This is the shortest chapter up to now, so that is probably why it didn't take long to complete. Enjoy~  
**

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I open my eyes. Immense pain was the first feeling I felt. "AAAH! WHERE AM I?!" I shouted loudly panicking. I struggled to escape, but my wrists were shackled to the wall by two metal bindings. "Ok! Ok! Calm down. Breathe. Breathe," I told myself, although I was having a tough time breathing. The pain was coming from all over my arms and legs, a pounding headache, and something sharp that was sticking in my hand. There was a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling brightly illuminating the entire room. Looking around my vision was a tad blurry. When I gazed down, my glasses were on the floor, crushed and broken into two halves, soaked in blood.

I decided to examine the area around me. The room itself was not large at all, around the size of an average bedroom. The walls and floor were completely made of concrete. Across the room from me was a barred door, like one you would see in jail. On the other side of the door was a stairway going up. The room had nothing else in it, not even any windows. From this information, I could tell I was in some kind of underground room.

Next, I examined myself. Scattered all over my arms and legs were tiny cuts. Many of them were spilling blood, which dripped onto the floor. A big pool of my blood was underneath me. I took a glance at my right hand. There was a nail sticking right through my hand! I began to freak out again, struggling to escape. Though I stopped trying, knowing that I could not escape these shackles. _Is there no way of escape?_ I wondered. I got flashbacks from when I was younger and locked in the pantry. Eventually I heard footsteps coming from the stairs. They were getting louder and louder. "Mae!?" I yelled, hoping that was who was coming towards me.

"Heh Heh Heh," came a chuckle from the other side of the only door. It was the man who kidnapped me. I think his name was Mr. Penderson?

"What do you want with me?!" I shouted at him angrily. He entered into the room, leaving the door open behind him.

"Don't get angry at me. I may have been the one to drag you here, but I was not the one to do all this to you."

"You mean you did not cause all these cuts and the nail in my hand?" I could not remember who it was that actually did the deed of torture. I'm sure I was knocked out while it occurred. "If not you, then who was it?"

"You know him very well. Heh Heh." Penderson had a fierce glare pointed at me.

I did not understand. "Who?"

"Your fox boyfriend."

"What? No! Gregg would not do this. If you truly mean it, then show me proof!"

"I believe you two know each other as bug and cap'n. Eh?"

"How is that proof? Just because you know some nicknames means nothing."

"Oh? I guess you're right. Well, as long as he's not busy, I guess I could bring him here. He probably would **love** to speak to you," Penderson spoke then chuckled. I did not think Gregg would appear. I had full faith that Gregg has nothing to do with any of this. Mr. Penderson began to talk as if he was somehow communicating with somebody else, "Master! Master! I need you. The bear has awoken. He does not believe the truth and I require your assistance." Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then the light began to flicker rapidly. Suddenly, the light went completely off. I was frightened of what or who might appear. Fwoosh! The light came back, and Gregg was standing in the center of the room. He was smiling with wide eyes. His clothes were oddly red, and he had strange black streaks on his head. He also wore spiked bands on his wrists. _Did he just teleport into here?_ I wondered, bedazzled by the thought.

"G-Gregg?" I spoke, still frightened and confused.

He waved his hand to me. "Hello you big idiot. How are things going?"

"Are you really the one who did this Gregg? All these cuts and the nail?"

"Of course! And let me tell you, every second of it was… wonderful."

I refused to believe this was the real deal. "The Gregg I know would not have done this. You are a fake!"

Gregg sighed. He stepped close to me and pointed at his own eyes. "Look into my eyes. NOW!" I did so and could not notice anything too unusual. "Now look at the eyes of that old man." Gregg pointed towards Mr. Penderson. I examined his eyes, and I noticed that Penderson's eyes were murky compared to Gregg's eyes.

"I see the difference, but… what does this mean?"

Gregg made a 'go away' hand motion to Mr. Penderson, then the old man left the room. Gregg returned his attention to me. "I guess Mae figured it out faster than you could. Real people have normal, clear eyes. As you just noticed my eyes are fine. The fakers have ugly eyes with less clarity."

"Well… What's with the getup? Why do you look different?" I was referring to his clothes and the spiked wristbands.

"What? Am I not allowed to wear something else? It's a recent change I made. I think my new style reflects me perfectly now. Don't you like it?"

"No, it's terrible. You're an evil Greggory!"

He repeatedly tapped his chin thinking about what I just said. "Evil… Evil... I like the sound of that... Evil Greggory."

"But why? Why are you doing this?" I felt I needed a reason. He wouldn't hurt me or Mae just for the fun of it all.

He completely avoided my question with, "Wow. That is kinda funny, because Mae also asked why."

"Because this is not at all like you!"

Gregg started laughing hysterically. "Ha. Ha. HAHA! HAHAHAHA! Heh… I... I guess you don't know me well enough then. You were always the worst boyfriend."

"Don't say that!"

"Oh boy. I guess I hit a nerve. But it is true. Every day with you was another day of agonizing torture."

"Gregg please… We both know that isn't true."

"Shut it! I was planning on ditching you before we left to Bright Harbor. I would take all the money we saved up and move on my own."

Tears were streaming down my face. This pain was more unbearable than the cuts all over my body. "Please… I'm sorry we had that argument. I'm sorry that I acted rude. I still love you bug."

Gregg stopped smiling, and instead he gave a frown. His whole demeanor changed suddenly. "I-I love... you... too…?" He had a tough time getting it out.

"Gregg? Wait... It's the true you! Release me from these shackles. I will help you. Please! We can make it through this!" I yelled desperately.

Gregg clasped his own head and started shaking no violently. "No… No. No. No! No! No! NO! NO!" He raised his left arm in the air. A floating knife made of shadows appeared. "I HATE YOU! I WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE SO EASILY!" He began laughing maniacally again, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

 _I had him! He was there for a second. It's possible to get the true Gregg back!_

Then Gregg grabs the shadow knife and shoves it into my leg. I screamed in agony. "That should teach you for messing with me! I have business to take of, so I should be on my leave."

With the strange knife stuck in my leg I could not communicate easily, "Aah, Gregg don't, aah, leave."

"Nah, I think I'm ready to go. I don't want to waste any more time talking to a crybaby like you. Bye Bye~"

"Wait!" I tried to keep him here, but I could not. He gave me one final smile and then smashed the light bulb. The tiny room lost all light, and I knew that Gregg was gone. I wanted to think about what just happened. Though, with the pain throughout my entire body I couldn't focus on my thoughts. I began to feel woozy. I knew I was going to pass out. "Somebody will save you Gregg. I just know it," I mumbled - as the darkness came to surround me.

* * *

 **End Notes: I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. We got to see Gregg again, although it seems he has changed in appearance, and he has taken a liking to the name Evil Greggory.  
Next chapter we will return to Mae's situation, so be on the lookout :3 **


	9. Unfriendly

**Author Notes: Two OCs are going to be introduced in this chapter. This story is not cannon to either of their lives. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _This is it… I'm going to die!_ Mae closed her eyes about to embrace death. _If only I had another chance to say I'm sorry to Bea…_

"Wh-Who are you? A-Answer me, or I'll k… kill you," the grey feline spoke. Mae opened her eyes back up. She noticed his hand was shaking. He seemed very afraid to kill somebody, he most likely hasn't killed a person ever. Mae knew this was her chance to not die!

"I'm Mae Borowski! I swear I don't want to kill you! Please let me go!" She tried her best to persuade him.

"If you don't want to kill me, then why did you attack me first?"

"Because I thought you were one of the fakers! I know now that you're real!"

"How? What suddenly makes you think I'm not like the rest of them?"

"It's the eyes! Fakers have less clear eyes compared to us real people. Have you seen the eyes of the fakers?"

"I don't really pay any attention to their eyes."

"Please believe me! I'm real, like you!"

He took a pause to think. "L-Listen to my next few instructions. Then I'll decide whether or not you're safe. O-Ok?" I nodded. "I'm going to get off you, then I want you to get up too. Then back away from me a few steps. Put your hands in the air too. A-And I'm holding on to this knife until I feel safe enough to give it back."

"Ok. I can do that. I promise I won't do anything fishy," I told him honestly. He quickly gets off of me and stands, still holding the knife in a defensive position. He motions for me to stand up. I do so, then swiftly I take six steps back. I also raise my hands in the air.

"Uh, give me more reasons to, uh, trust you." He stared at Mae cautiously, trying to make sure she does not pull out a secret weapon or run away.

 _I know something that will prove that I am real to him_. "Just take a look at me." Mae lifts up her sleeve, "I've been stabbed here." She points at her face, "I've been punched multiple times here." Then she shows him her left hand, "And my effing finger was chopped off. Is that proof enough?"

"Oh… brutal. I'm sorry you went through so much." He throws the knife to the ground in front of me. "I think I trust you now." I pick the knife off the ground.

"Thank you." They stared at each other not knowing what to say next.

"Um. Well, my name is Castro. N-Nice to meet you."

"Castro is a cool name. You already know my name. Heh…" It was kind of awkward talking since they were trying to kill each a minute ago.

 ***BANG***

A bullet scraped the edge of Mae's right arm. Blood splattered onto the sidewalk. Mae kneeled to the ground. She clasped the area where she just got shot. Then Mae saw somebody running towards them from behind Castro. "Who's that?" Mae pointed to the person running up to them. He was a fox with yellow fur. Black **real** eyes, with a little black at the tip of his ears. He had on a trench coat with a white undershirt. His pants were blue like Castro's, but a tad lighter. Most importantly, he was carrying a pistol, the one that just shot Mae.

The fox ran up next to Castro and shouted, "Watch out, she has a knife!" He raised up his pistol aiming for my head.

"What the hell Drain!? Don't shoot again!" Castro yelled at him. Drain looked at Castro, then returned his focus to Mae. She dropped the knife to signify she wouldn't hurt anybody. Drain still pulled the trigger anyway.

 ***BANG***

Mae was staring at the ground thinking she just got shot again. However, she was still alive. When she looked back up to Drain and Castro, they were furiously yelling at each other. Mae checked behind herself. A faker was shot in the head only three feet behind Mae. _Oh my god. That could have been me,_ Mae pondered. She returned focus to the two that were arguing. Mae grabbed the knife, and she casually walked over to them. They were too busy conversing to notice Mae come over. "Hey! What are you two talking about?"

They both looked at Mae. Drain raised his pistol at her again. "Stay back!"

"Stop it with the gun aiming! She's trustworthy... and real," Castro said.

"I don't care whether or not she is real or fake. I will not trust somebody who just appears with a knife."

"I'm-" Mae tried to speak, but got interrupted immediately.

"Don't talk! I don't want to hear anything from you!" Drain shouted at Mae.

Castro ran up next to Mae. "Just check how injured she is! And what if she knows something about how to get out? We could help each other out."

"You're way too naive. Let's just kill her here so that we don't have to worry about her hurting us," Drain suggested.

Castro didn't know what to say to change Drain's mind about Mae. He stood there thinking, but Mae decided to chime in. "Listen here you effing dunce. I just want to escape this false world, probably a similar goal to you. And might I remind you that you SHOT ME with that gun of yours. I've done nothing to you. As for Castro here, I'm deeply sorry for attacking him. I did not know he was real at first. Now have I convinced you that I am not planning on hurting either of you, or are you just going to shoot me now?" Mae was mad from being shot and just didn't like Drain overall, so she spoke with irritation.

"Yeah! What she just said!" Castro added.

Drain was annoyed, and felt that the argument would go nowhere if he continued. "Fine then. We can trust her for now... but only if she gives me her weapon."

"I'm not giving you my knife! I need this for self defense."

Drain was not pleased. Castro then suggested, "H-How about she gives it to me?"

"Whatever. As long as she doesn't have that knife on her."

Mae looked at Castro, and he stared back. Castro nodded to Mae, then extended his arm to pick up the knife. Mae handed him the knife. Now she was defenseless. "You happy now?" Mae asked. Drain just ignored her attitude.

"Just know that I still don't trust you. We should probably get moving before more fakers show up."

Castro really wanted to tell Mae something, "Do you have a place you live, or like, uh a safe place we could stay in? We have been always on the move not knowing whether a building is safe or not."

"Yeah. There's this place I have as my base. It's in an apartment building, and it's safe," Mae replied back.

"It sounds like a good place, Drain. We should follow her."

"No. I'm not going to let her lead us to a possible trap."

"Well, I'm going with her. Show the way Mae." Mae smiled then began to walk back to base. Castro follows next to her.

"Fine! I'll come along." Drain follows behind the both of them.

* * *

They were all mostly silent on the walk to Mae's base. The outside was dark since it was now nighttime. Mae opened the door, and they all entered the apartment. Mae flipped on the lightswitch for everyone to see the room. Castro saw the couch and immediately sat on it. "I forgot how great it is to sit on a couch."

Drain went to examine the bedroom. "Is it alright if I sleep on this bed?" Mae gave him a thumbs up. "Ok." Drain shut the bedroom door behind himself.

Mae decided to take care of the bullet wound on her arm. She threw her backpack and knife on the floor, then went into the kitchen. Mae was fortunate that the bullet only scraped her arm and did not directly hit. She cleaned and bandaged the wound. _A missing finger, a bruise under my eye, a knife scar and wound, and now I can add bullet wound to the list. Great…_ Mae was **obviously** enthusiastic about all that.

Mae then stared at Castro who seemed to be in couch heaven. She joined him on the couch, sitting to his left. "Hey, thanks for standing up for me. I'd probably be dead otherwise."

"Yep..."

"You saved me from being shot."

"Yep…"

"Why did you put so much trust into me?"

"Um… I don't know…" Castro was acting nervous, and was staring away from Mae.

"Is everything alright? You seem anxious."

"I… uh, get nervous when talking to new people."

"You seemed more confident in talking earlier."

"I think it probably was the panic from being attacked by you."

"Eck. Sorry about that whole attack on you thing. Would you feel better if we were friends?"

Castro looked at her. "Yeah..."

"Friends we are then."

"Uh, thank you, but I don't think friendship works like that."

"It probably doesn't…"

"How about we like… reintroduce ourselves?"

"Sure. Hello I'm Mae." She gave out her hand.

"Hi, I am Castro. Nice to meet you." Castro grabbed her hand and they shook. It was an awkward handshake, mostly from Castro's nervousness.

"Just try to calm down."

"Ok. Ok." Castro took deep breaths to ease his anxiety.

"Why are you so nervous to talk to new people? I mean, I also am not great at talking to new people as well."

"I… don't want to talk about that."

Mae could feel a sense of dread emanating from him. "You don't have to talk about it. Not my business to know," she said.

"So, why are you with that **Drain** person?" Mae inquired.

"Well, He may seem like a very angry person, but I think it may just... be all the stress. He was much nicer when I first met him."

"Are you two friends?"

"Maybe…? W-We both met each other when we arrived to this world. I like to think of him as a friend, but I'm not sure if he would agree. He's cool."

Mae crossed her arms. "Pfft. He's not cool."

"Er… ok."

Mae suddenly felt childish. "Well! I mean, I don't like him, but it's fine if you do." They sat in silence for awhile. "I'm still wondering..."

"Um… about what?"

"Why did you put so much trust into me earlier? You just gave me all trust, and returned my knife back to me."

"Well, you've been through so much pain. I mean, you're missing a finger! I felt bad for you. Look at me! I'm fine compared to you!" Mae examined Castro again. He had some bruises and was dirty, but overall he seemed not too hurt. Except for the scar above his eye.

Mae could tell the scar was old, but decided to ask anyway, "Did you get that scar in false world?"

"False world?"

"Yep, that's what I call it."

Castro put his finger against the old wound. "I got this scar years ago, so, um, I didn't get it here in false world..."

Mae could tell that he was uncomfortable, so she moved on to a different subject. "Do you happen to know somebody by the name of Angus?"

"No. Why?"

"He's a friend of mine. Got warped into false world like the rest of us. I found him early on, but he was taken away not long after we found each other."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. What does he look like?"

"He's a bear. He's big, but not fat. He wears a green sweater. Has a tie, glasses, a cool fedora. I've been searching for him ever since we became separated."

Castro was about to suggest an idea, but did not. Instead he said, "I, uh, hope you can find him."

"Yeah, I hope so too…"

"Oh, wait!" Castro bent forward, and grabbed a knife from between his feet. He offered it to Mae. "I w-want to return this to you."

"Thanks." Mae received it from him, then goes to put it in her bag.

Castro gives a long yawn, and he sat back on the couch. "I'm tired," He rubbed his eyes, "I think I might go to slllll-" Then he fell into slumber

Mae decided she too should get some sleep. She lain on the couch next to Castro. Eager was not the exact word to express Mae's feeling, but she couldn't wait to see Bea. She thought it was a good time to apologize for what she did. Eventually, she fell asleep, unable to stop thinking about Bea.

 **Early, the next morning**. Mae opened her eyes. She leaned forward and stretched her arms. _I'm on the couch? Shouldn't I be at the Ol' Pickaxe?_ Mae was very confused. She got off the couch, and lazily walked around the apartment. Neither Castro nor Drain were found. _Am I in reality or false world right now?_ Then, Mae heard the doorknob turning. She expected it to be Angus for some odd reason. The door opened, and in came Drain and Castro. They were chatting, happy with smiles on their face. When Castro saw Mae, he waved his hand still smiling.

When Drain saw Mae, he told her, "Good morning."

"Yeah, whatever," she told Drain. He lost his smile. Then she turned to Castro, "Why are you two so happy?"

"Those fake people are gone! We were able to go outside; safely walk around."

"Really?" _They are all gone… Something's not right about that. They must be planning something_.

"So, how was your sleep?" Castro asked Mae. Drain sat down to relax on the couch.

"I… didn't see Bea."

"Who?" asked Drain.

Mae began to panic. "Bea! I didn't see her last night! Why didn't I visit reality?! I need to see Bea! Bea!" Castro went over to Mae and grabbed her hand to calm her down. He felt awkward about it though.

"You need some fresh air," Drain suggested.

Mae pointed her free hand at him. "Don't tell me what to do!"

"Mae! C-Calm down. He's right, you should get some fresh air." Hearing those words from Castro made her feel better.

"Ok... I'll go outside." Castro let go of her hand, and the two of them made their way outside, Drain staying on the couch. Outside, the air wasn't exactly 'fresh', but it was better than indoors air. Castro and Mae started walking in a random direction. "I do kinda feel better out here. It's nice that the streets are clear of danger."

"Yeah, it's great to be able to walk around freely again."

"So… Are we just going to walk?"

"I was thinking that maybe… we could try and search for… what's his name again?"

"His name is Angus."

"Yeah him! Let's go on an Angus hunt!" Castro was oddly determined.

"You seem wild today."

"I feel much better after having some morning coffee."

"Coffee? I don't remember their being any coffee in the kitchen."

"There was lots of coffee in the place nextdoor."

"Oh. I've never been in there before."

"The walls had a strange design, but cool though. You ready to look for Angus now?"

"Yep."

"Then lead the way. To wherever you have not searched yet." They walked to the other side of town. There they started looking in buildings. They were mostly silent, other than the occasional "Not here," and "Have you searched here yet?" In their search, they came across a street sign that was interesting. "Hey Mae! Come look at this sign!"

Mae had just exit a building they searched. She ran up to him and read the sign. "Bartolomeo Street. Wait… I've never heard of that street before. Why is this here?"

"I think it's a neat sign. Sounds like the name of a great friend."

"You have a strange taste in friends."  
"What, no! You're my friend! And you're not strange!"

"Oh? We're friends now?" Mae teased.

"Yes… I think so now..."

"Glad to know. Let's keep searching."

"Yep!" Castro sneaks one last peek at the sign before they move forward. They searched two more buildings before deciding to return to base.

* * *

When they returned, Drain was still sitting on the couch. He was messing with a deck of cards. "What are you doing?" asked Mae.

"Practicing this trick Castro taught me."

"Heh… It's my deck of cards..."

Drain puts the cards back into the box they came out of, and he handed to Castro, who then put it in their pocket. "I think we should share the info that we all have," Drain spoke.

Mae did not want to talk to Drain. However, she was curious what he might have to say, so she agreed, "Yes." Castro sat next to Drain, and Mae stayed standing up.

"Tell us what you might now," spoke Drain. Mae told them about Gregg, and how she used to be able to travel to reality by sleeping.

"...and that's the important stuff you should know. Now what do you two have to say?"

"Me and Castro have already noticed the strange invisible barrier confining us in Possum Springs."

"Yeah. I've already noticed that too."

"With that in mind, we've come up with an idea of how to escape!" Mae's ears perked up. She was now fully interested in listening. "Now, it's just an idea. We don't know for sure, but what would happen if we somehow got through the barrier?"

Mae wasn't exactly sure what Drain was going on about, so Castro continued the conversation. "False world is contained inside the barrier, but Drain and I believe that outside the barrier is someway out."

"But isn't the barrier just there to keep us in Possum Springs?"

Drain shrugged, "We don't know."

Castro smiled. "The chance of escape is there though, so we should at least try to see what's on the other side."

"Ok, but how are we going to get through the barrier? We can't easily walk through it."

"That is what we'll all figure out tomorrow," Drain said.

"Actually, you two can go on your own," said Mae.

"Awww. Please go with us!" Castro whined.

Mae stared at Castro, then at Drain, then back at Castro. She did not want to have to go with Drain, but with Castro there she'll go. "Fine."

"Woo!" Castro stood up, and he raised his hand in the air. "We, the allies, will escape this place, together!" Mae realized what he wanted, and gave him a high-five. Castro stared at Drain, and Drain got up then gave Castro a high-five. Drain grinned, and raised his hand up for Mae to give him a high-five. Instead, Drain just received a cold glare. Drain felt mad, but he controlled himself and decided to go.

"Ugh. I'm out of here." Drain went to the door.

"Where are you going? It's getting dark outside," Castro wondered.

Drain waved goodbye. "...See you tomorrow Castro." Drain shut the door behind himself as he left.

"I hope he doesn't get hurt out there."

"Don't worry about him." Mae noticed how sad Castro was now, and she felt bad for making Drain leave. Not bad for Drain, but for Castro. "He'll be fine."

"Yeah… you're right. He will be fine!"

"I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight Castro." Castro nodded, then sat back onto the couch. Mae moved into the bedroom. Before falling asleep she jotted a note into her journal. "What if we are able to escape tomorrow? What will happen to Angus? Is that barrier really going to be our escape?" Mae stopped writing in her journal. "I guess I'll have to wait until... tomorrow…"

* * *

 **End Notes: Castro is my OC, and Drain is the OC of one of my friends.**

 **Be on the lookout for the next chapter :3**


	10. Allies

**Author's Notes: Well, chapter ten is finally here. Also, I changed chapter nine's title, and gave this chapter the title of which used to be chapter nine's.  
I hope all who read this story like this chapter, and sorry for the long wait! Enjoy :P**

* * *

Five days have passed since the day originally planned to visit the barrier. Instead of going "tomorrow" like Mae thought, Castro suggested waiting a while longer in order to find Angus. Mae was not ready to possibly escape, not without Angus, so she agreed to keep searching for him a while longer.

On all five of these days, Castro would go along with Mae to search for Angus. With none of those crazy killers roaming the street, walking around was simple. It did constantly put Mae at unease though. The feeling of an ambush occurring was always present, so she kept her knife on her at all times.

These five days really meant a lot to Mae. Not being able to talk to Bea anymore, Mae needed somebody else to pass the time with. Castro and Mae conversed most of the time searching, and they were able to learn lots about each other. The two became close friends in such a short amount of time. Everyday they would leave at around noon, search for a few hours, then return back to base. Drain returned back to the base on the first day with a toolbox. He was not too happy when he heard that they decided to wait before venturing to the barrier. Everyday, Castro, after searching, would always talk to Drain about what happened, then they would hang out for a bit. Mae did not want to be near Drain, so she hung out in the kitchen by alone herself usually. Seeing Drain and Castro laughing and talking angered Mae. She did not think she was being jealous, but who knows?

The fifth day was different than the rest. Castro and Mae were making their way back to base. Mae was walking slowly, and Castro had to slow down his movements to stay with Mae. "H-Hey, is everything alright?" Moments ago, when they were searching the last house, Mae was full of excitement and joy. Now, her shoulders and ears drooped downward, and her spirit was low.

"I'm done."

"Done?"

Mae stared at her knife. It was clean enough to where her reflection could stare back. "I can't take this anymore."

Castro saw Mae looking at her knife. He feared what Mae would do. "Wh… What do you mean? You're not going to..."

Mae realized what he thought she going to do, "Wait, I didn't mean it like that! I meant that I'm done searching for Angus. It's hopeless!"

Castro lightly put his hand on her shoulder. He spoke slowly, "Don't say that. It's not hopeless."

"That house we just searched, that was the final place in all of Possum Springs that was unsearched. Now, there's nowhere that I haven't looked. Angus is gone. If I keep going, then I'll just be endlessly searching!"

"Mae… please stop it. If Angus was kidnapped here in false world, then he must still be in false world somewhere. He couldn't have poofed away, right?"

 _This conversation, where have I heard it before?_ Mae pondered, _oh no… this is like that conversation I had with Bea before I hurt her!_ Mae clenched her knife. She still hated herself for what she did to Bea. _I don't want to get too mad and hurt Castro. I'm ending this!_ "Angus is a lost cause. I give up."

"B-But we can't give up yet! There must have been somewhere you haven't searched yet!"

She completely avoided what Castro just said. "When we get back, you, Drain, and I are going to get ready to go to the barrier."

"Mae, we have to keep searching though!" She just ignored Castro and kept on walking. Castro knew she was done talking, and he shut his mouth for the rest of the walk back to base.

"Hurry up! We're almost there!" The three, Mae, Drain, and Castro, made their way to the edge of town. As found out by Mae and Angus long ago in their investigation, an invisible barrier surrounds all of Possum Springs. It was impossible to walk through this strange barrier, and what is on the other side is unknown. Castro and Drain believe that it may be the way out.

"Could this actually be our escape?" Mae pondered.

"There's only one way to find out!" Castro moved up against the barrier. He pushed his body with all his might against the barrier, but the barrier was impenetrable.

"Castro, you're probably the weakest of us. Let me see if I can do anything." Drain took his two hands and pushed with full force. The barrier was still impenetrable. He punched the wall, but it felt like punching a brick wall. "Hey! Can I have that toolbox?" Mae was holding a box of tools that Drain asked her to take. She gave him an irritated stare, then dropped the toolbox onto the ground. He glared back to Mae and picked up the toolbox from the ground. Drain took a hammer and began smashing at the barrier.

While Drain was using various tools to destroy the barrier, Castro walked over to Mae. "Hey, uh, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Drain has been kinda grumpy recently. Could you try to be nicer to him?"

Mae hesitated in giving an answer. "Maybe," she told him. Castro gained a frown, and he walked over to Drain, who was still trying to break through the barrier, then helped smashing. Mae felt unpleasant after seeing Castro become sad. _I should try to talk to Drain. I_ _ **might**_ _apologize too…_ She stepped over to Drain. "Hey, can we tal-" Not noticing her, Drain swung his hammer back quickly, smashing her nose. Mae instantly squeezed her nose. "AAAGH! MWY NYOSE!" she screamed. Drain and Castro both gasped simultaneously.

"Oops! That was an accident!" Drain uttered.

"AAAAAAGH! I AM GWOING TO EFFING KWILL YOU!"

Mae picked up the entire toolbox. Drain dropped the hammer and ran away as Mae chased him yelling many different curse words. Mae was swinging the toolbox like a madman. "Castro! Help calm her down, please!" Castro couldn't help but laugh at the scene in front of him, he could barely move from laughter. "This isn't funny! Help me!" Castro fell to the ground, a tear swelling up in his eye.

"Hahahaha… Pwwwwh… Ha! Ha! Ha! I- I- I don't know why this so funny to me. Just the way she is trying to hit you with that toolbox. Hahahaha!"

"GWET OVER HERE!"

"Castrooooooooo!" Drain shouted irritated.

"Ok! Ok!" Castro ceased his laughing. Then, when Mae managed to actually smack Drain with the box of tools, he regained full seriousness. Castro yelled at her, "Mae! Please cool down! It was an accident!" After hearing this, Mae stopped chasing. She immediately let go of the toolbox without thinking. Drain took this opportunity to pull out his pistol from his pocket. He pointed straight at her forehead.

Mae was still so full of anger, in fact, her hand began producing an odd static of which she ignored. "Eff you!" She stuck her middle finger at him, the one on her right hand of course. Castro wanted to stop them but was afraid to step into their argument. He remained silent.

"That's it! I'm killing you right now! You're just a danger to us!"

"I'm the dangerous one!? You hit me with a hammer!" She pointed to her bleeding nose.

"That was an effing accident!"

"And what about the gunshot? Huh?!"

Drain became flustered. "Are you kidding me? That was days ago! "

"Er! Whatever! I don't think you should have that gun!"

"No! You need to die now. I only care about me and Castro. Everybody else is just a danger, no matter how trustworthy they may seem."

"If you care about Castro, then don't shoot me!"

"What? Castro understands that you're a danger. He wouldn't care if I shot you."

Castro couldn't withstand their bickering. He bursted out, "SHUT UP!" Drain and Mae immediately silenced, surprised by Castro's outburst. "Drain! You can't just say what I feel! You don't know my friendship with her. Mae is a great person. You can't kill her!"

"I have to kill her. She's a risk to us!"

"I'm not a risk!" Mae intruded.

"Shut your mouth! I'm talking to Castro!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Hah! I'm the one with a loaded pistol pointing at your head."

"We should be allies! Stop fighting, please!" Castro begged.

Drain focused on Castro. "Who do you trust more?"

"Wha… what?"

"I asked, who do you trust more? Me or Mae?" Castro was silent. He had no answer. Or maybe he did? Castro wasn't sure how to answer that question. "Castro…?"

"I… I…"

"Do… you trust her more?" Drain had his full attention towards Castro. Mae took this opportunity to begin tip toeing to Drain.

"I'm not sure."

"We've been through this together for so long! You've been with her for only a week, and you might actually trust her more?"

"Drain, I trust you! but…"

"But, what?"

"I also trust Mae. I trust both of you equally." At this point, Mae became close enough to Drain to snatch the pistol. She was about to take it, but Drain noticed her and shot his pistol right above her head. Mae swiftly backed up.

"I can promise you next shot won't miss," he grunted.

"Ok! W-We need to stop this now! Drain, lower your gun."

"Hah! You may trust her, but I don't!"

"Please, Drain."

"Only if she agrees not to attack me!"

"Mae. Don't fight him." With silence, she nodded her head. Drain carefully examined her, then he cautiously lowered his gun to his side.

"Drop the gun." Mae's words caught Drain off guard, but, surprisingly, he dropped his gun onto the ground. Castro smiled at him, and then stared at Mae. She just stood there for a solid minute… until she took out her knife. Castro took a step forward, Drain reached for his gun on the ground, but they did not need to worry.

Mae dropped her knife onto the ground. "I'm… I am sorry, Drain. We should be working together, not fighting. We need to trust each other."

"As… As much as I don't want to trust you… You're... right. We should be working together," Drain stuck out his hand, "I think I can trust you for now."

Mae grabbed his hand, "Well, I think I can trust you too," and shook it.

"Ah, and I'm sorry for hitting you with the hammer"

"Whatever, I know it was an accident. I'm sorry for lashing out on you with the tool box."

Castro was extremely happy to see his friends suddenly getting along. "Not only do you trust each other, but you're already apologizing! It is great that we can finally work together as a team. Getting through this barrier will be a piece of cake!"

Castro gave them both a thumbs up with each hand. Then his face lit up with excitement. "Oh! Let's try doing the ally high five again, and let's do it all at the same time." He went up to them and raised his hand in the air.

"Only if she doesn't give me that cold stare again…" Drain said jokingly.

Mae smirked at him. "I was not going to, but maybe I will now."

"Heh, ok ok. Let's just do the high five already." Drain raised his hand.

Mae also raised her hand. "Yeah! Get us started Castro."

Both Drain and Mae stared at Castro, waiting for him to speak. "Um… Um… Oh yeah!" he forgot what he was going to say but quickly remembered, "We, the allies, will escape this place! Whether it be by this barrier or by some other way, escape will happen. As long as we're together, false world will not stop us!" He went into silence, and motioned to do the high five and that was when the three of them all high fived at once.

"Huh, I guess we're officially allies now?" Mae spoke. Drain and Castro nodded.

They all felt motivated to move forward, but first, Drain pointed at Mae's nose. "Your nose is still bloody. We should head back to base and get it cleaned up." Mae softly touch her nose. Looking at her fingers, they had blood on them.

"Good idea. We can come back to the barrier later tonight."

Drain shook his head. "Actually, you two can head back on your own. I want to continue working on the barrier."

Castro grabs Drain's arm, "Hey, you should come back with us and relax." Mae nods her head in agreement.

"No thank you. I'll stay here and see if I can make progress on breaking through the barrier."

"A-Alright. We'll be back soon." With that said, Castro and Mae made there way back to base, while Drain continued finding a way through the barrier.

In the kitchen, Mae grabbed a rag from off of a counter, then she turned the sink's faucet letting cold water flow. After wetting the rag, she wiped away the blood around her nose. Fortunately, her nose had stopped bleeding, but Mae could still feel her nose hurt. Also, it was **definitely** broken. _A hammer to the nose is better than a knife to my finger…_ She walked into the living room where Castro was standing next to the door. He was already ready to return to Drain. "What's with the hurry? I thought we were going to relax here for a bit."

"Yeah, but I'm not that tired, and I feel that Drain could use some help…"

"Well, I am exhausted. A cat nap is exactly what I need," Mae laid herself onto the couch, "Bye."

"Um… before I go. I have one question."

"Yeah?"

"Why did you not like Drain? I know he shot you, but even so, you really did not like him at all."

"Maybe... it's stress? This whole situation of false world and not being able to find Angus is stressing me out. Drain had a bad first impression for me, and I guess that stuck around in my emotions because I'm so stressed."

"Yeah, I'm extremely stressed as well."

What Castro just said began to bother her. "How?" she asked fully befuddled, "How do you remain so optimistic? You say you're 'extremely stressed', but you seem fine to me."

"Hmm… I may not be as stressed as you are, but I am definitely afraid. I'm afraid that we won't escape, that we'll die here, that I won't be able to see my family again. However, if I think that way all the time then stress will just overtake me. I can't let that happen. I need to keep going so that we can leave this false world as soon as possible."

"But the sooner we leave, the less time I have to find Angus!"

"I thought you gave up on him?"

"..."

"Ok, we will continue to search for Angus after we figure out whether or not the barrier is our escape route." Mae remained quiet. "See you at the barrier soon." Mae didn't respond, only waved her hand goodbye. Castro left the building to return to Drain. Mae just lain there thinking.

 _The barrier… is that really going to be our way out? And if it is, then what about Angus and Gregg?_ Her mind went blank. _Gregg… Why… Why did he do this…? Why did he take us here, into this insane world?_ Mae's eyes teared up. _I need somebody right now. Not Castro. Not Drain. Somebody really close to me. Bea or Angus or… I don't know!_ She let out a loud yawn. Her eyelids felt heavy. Her thought process slowed. About to pass out, she quietly whispered to herself, "All… I need… is some… guidance…."

* * *

 **End Notes: I have nothing significant to put here!**


	11. Tranquility

**Author's Note: Woah. It has been quite a few... _months_... I really have no excuse for why this chapter took so long to make. To those who have been waiting, I give to you my apologies. There have been a few life problems that slowed me down, but mostly just a lack of interest here and there prevented me from working with full potential. Either way, here's the awaited chapter eleven. I hope it is good, just like how I hope all the other chapters are. This chapter _might_ get a bit weird so be on the lookout for weirdness. Enjoy. **

* * *

Drain was hard at work trying to penetrate through the barrier. It appears as though the barrier is still fully intact, but perhaps Drain had made a crack or a few? The fact that the barrier was invisible made it nearly impossible to tell if any damage was done. Drain had already tried using all the tools in the toolbox. The wrench, screwdriver, hammer, the box itself. He's even thrown his whole body against the barrier. "What if maybe I were to use something heavier… a car possibly? Nah, too dangerous..." he kept mumbling quietly to himself, figuring out how to gain access to a possible escape route. Castro approached him while he was in deep thought.

"Heyyo Draino!" Castro waved to Drain.

Drain put down the tool he was currently holding, the hammer, into the toolbox. With a slight smile, he asked, "I thought you were going to relax with Mae? Why are you back so soon?"

"I am not as tired as I thought I was. I wanted to help you with the barrier too."

"Well, it's strange that you walked all the way back to base, just to come back here."

"I mostly wanted to walk Mae back."

"Alright then."

"Thank you for finally trusting Mae" Castro smiled to Drain.

"Actually, Castro, I'm having... 'doubts'. I trust her enough to work with her, but not enough to be buddies with her."

"And that's fine. You don't have to be her friend. I just want us all to be allies. But you should at least try to protect her if a moment of danger does happen."

"I'm not going to risk my life for her. If it becomes a life or death situation I'm defending either you or me." Drain became all flustered talking about it.

Castro could tell by the sweat and frustration that Drain was too worked up. "How about you take a break. You've been working really hard on the barrier." Castro walks over to a patch of green grass and lays down upon it. He pats the area next to him. "Join me. Take a break."

Drain didn't object to the offer like Castro thought he would, instead he fell right onto the area of grass next to Castro. "This grass feels more comfortable than I have I assumed."

"Yeah! You should just lay and relax. Let's just have some silence for a bit." Castro closed his eyes, only wanting to hear the wind. A light breeze blew over his fur. The feeling was nice.

Drain had his eyes open, looking at the sky. The sky was a nice calming blue with few clouds. Although, knowing the fact the sky was false unnerved Drain. He decided to put his mind on something else. "Screw silence!" taking a moment to think, "Remember when we first met?"

"Woah, it's weird to think that was only about a month ago! Here in false world of all places too!"

"You act like it was a good first meetup?"

"It kind of was…"

"I thought you kidnapped me! And I remember when I began to think you were becoming one of them!"

"Oh… yeah, the full memory is coming back to me… heh…" Castro kept his eyes closed, going into deep thought as he tried recalling when he and Drain first met.

Castro felt cold and was laying on a carpeted floor. All he remember last was going to sleep in his bedroom, but, as he slowly opened his eyes, he realized that the room around him was one of which he had never seen before. Castro sat up, then put his hand against his forehead. A huge headache immediately occurred in his head, making it tough for him to think properly. The only light came from a front door and two windows from both sides of it. Since not much light came through, most of the room was dark. Castro himself was barely in the light. _I… need… to know where I'm… at…_ He stood up from the floor, slowly moved towards the door, and as he put his hand on the doorknob, a shuffling sound was heard from within the darkness. Castro turned to gaze into the darkness behind him, and out came a man who he would soon know to be Drain. "Who…"

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here? And what did you plan to do with me?" Drain asked, agitated. He was just as confused as Castro was, and even had his hand upon the side of his head as if he had a headache like Castro. "Answer me now, kidnapper!"

"I…" Castro could not speak with such a headache bothering him. He felt as though his mouth wouldn't move for him. _I'm not… a kidnapper…_ Castro shook his head no, for that was all he could think to do.

Drain raised a fist, feigning strength. He faked a face of anger and acted as if he would hurt the grey feline. Castro fell to the ground in overwhelming fear, his headache too much to bear. "Huh… I guess he's not a kidnapper. Too much of a scaredy cat." Drain chuckled at his pitiful pun. He reached out his hand to Castro before saying "Get off the ground." He was afraid to touch Drain's hand, but, unable to think properly, did so anyway. Drain hoisted him up. "Are you fine? You seem to be in a bad state." All Castro could do was point as his head, but Drain knew what he meant. "I have a strange headache too. But it seems like yours is much worse."

"Y-Yes," Castro could barely mutter.

"Save your breath. Just stand against that wall or something. I'll go get help," Drain told him quickly. Castro nodded and put his back against the yellow wall. Drain didn't want to have to take care of some stranger, so he was hoping somebody else would help instead. Opening the door revealed that it was night time, which was already evident enough by the little illumination that came into the house. The area was a part of Possum Springs Drain had been a few times, yet mostly unfamiliar to him. In the street, a man was standing, back facing Drain, which surprised Drain because he wasn't expecting to see anybody out this late at night. "Hey, I need some help! Can you call an… ambulance?" he wasn't sure if an ambulance was really needed for a headache, but better safe than sorry. When the man didn't answer, Drain approached him. "Uh, do you have a phone I could borr-" The man swiftly rotated to Drain, slashing a knife at him. The man managed to cut deep into his abdomen. Drain pressed his arm against the wound to stop the blood, which was soaking through his shirt. "Mother effer! Why did you effing do that?!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" the man chanted. His face had a huge smile and scars all over, which creeped Drain.

"What is wrong with your face!?" he backed away, "You're insane!"

"Drain must die! Kill Drain! Kill Drain!" the man swung his weapon again, missing.

"How do you know my name?!" Then Drain noticed somebody else, a woman, walking towards him. She was unarmed, and seemed safe. "Hey! I need help!" The woman, silent, readied her fist. Drain knew she wasn't going to help. He also knew that punching or kicking them wouldn't work, he would just get overpowered and stabbed in his weak state.

"Your pocket! A gun!" came Castro's voice from the doorway of the house. Castro was leaning against the doorframe pointing at Drain's pocket. He instinctively reached for his pocket taking out a pistol. He wondered how it got there; he didn't remember ever putting a gun in his pocket, but then again somebody could have slipped it onto him. Didn't matter. He pointed the gun at the man with a knife. It seemed as though, even with a gun, the man wasn't intimidated. He was ready to swing his knife when Drain finally shot the gun. The body of the man fell to the ground, directly in front of Drain, a pool of blood forming around him. At sight of this, the woman grew overly hostile. She dashed towards Drain, but before making any contact, the gun was shot again, and her fate ended alike the man.

"Oh shit! I-I-I just killed two people! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Drain tried calming himself with deep breaths. He turned to Castro to say, "S-Something's wrong here! These people are- er- were insane!"

"T-That's… weird…..." Castro weakly spoke, giving Drain a thumbs down. He then immediately fell to the ground, barely conscious. Drain came over to the currently weak stranger. He had his hand on his forehead, so Drain decided to feel there too.

"Woah, you must have a fever! Your forehead is very hot!" Drain exclaimed. Castro only blinked as a response. Drain still was not wanting to have to help this stranger, but between the three people he's met tonight, Castro's the only surely safe one. "Ok, c'mon, in we go." Drain was able to pick up Castro, which was tough, but since he's a tad underweight it wasn't too straining. Inside, somehow, while holding Castro, he found and flipped the light switch to the house. There was a couch in the middle of the living room. He gently placed Castro onto the comfy couch, and went into the kitchen. A minute later, he came back with a wet rag. "I am not too sure how to help a fever, but this should do something at least." He carefully placed the moistened rag upon Castro's forehead. "Hmm, now get some rest… I'll stay near that door to make sure no insane people will try to break in," he reassured Castro. Castro smiled to Drain. "Th… anks."

Drain shyly looked away. "Yeah yeah, just rest already." He walked over to the front door to keep watch.

"I heard a voice…"

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"I can't explain it… but it fills me with fear."

"What does...?" Drain questioned, not hearing Castro the first time.

"I heard this strange feminine voice… frightening and… scratchy like a record..."

Drain looked at him as if he was insane. He was kind of afraid the feline would turn crazy like one of those people just killed. "Just go to sleep." When he looked over at him, Castro was already passed out. "I have a gun. I can use it if I have to." Drain mumbled, holding it in front of him.

* * *

Castro opened his eyes, flashback over, and turned his head to Drain, who was staring back at him. "Um… how long were you staring at me?"

"Oh- uh- well, you were mumbling about when we first met…"

"I-I was? Oops, sorry!"

"No no, it's alright. It was nice going through the memory again… sorta…"

"Yeah-" Castro coughs, "Ooooogh. That was one bad cough"

"Heh, you better not be getting sick again."

"Pfft, I'm fine!"

"I do have one question for you." Castro looked attentively at Drain ready for his question. "I definitely remember you hearing a voice, or well you said you did anyway. What did it tell you?"

"Voice…? Yeah, I told you I heard it, but I definitely _don't_ remember what it told me."

"Anyway," Drain stands up, "This was a nice break. We should get back to the barrier though."

Castro, still laying in the grass, asked Drain, "How much progress have you made on the barrier?"

Drain had a long sigh, "None at all…"

"I-I have an idea."

"Yeah?"

"A barrier is made to not be crossed. This barrier is no different. It's obvious that it is unbreakable, so maybe there's no way through it?"

"Castro, there could be our escape on the other side!" Drain grabs a hammer and smashes it against the invisible barrier, no dents or cracks to be made.

"Drain, just give it up for now. We can always come back to this, but it's just tiring you. The barrier isn't moving anywhere anytime soon anyway."

"It's only been less than a day and you're already going to give up so easily? You got any better ideas?!"

"A-Actually, yeah I do…"

"Then tell me it."

"Gregg, the person that Mae told us about, the leader, he might be our way out of here. If not, then we return to finding a breakthrough on the barrier."

"Oh, that's actually an alright idea. The most likely person to know of an escape route is the one running this whole world."

"Yes, we should get back to Mae and see if we can get more information about Gregg."

"Ok, I'm ready."

Castro threw his hands up in excitement. "Then let's hurry up and go back! The sooner we can discuss this the better!"

"No need to rush. I want to get out fast too, but I'm exhausted. Let's just walk back." Drain was fanning himself with his hand.

Castro grabs the toolbox. "Yes, let's." The two began making their way back to base.

* * *

Mae lifts up her head. The room she resides in was none other than her own bedroom. Still drowsy, she mumbles, "The tacos go with the bacon, mom." She realizes her own drowsiness and groans, "Uugh… I need some water." Getting out of her bed, she stretches and yawns. She heads downstairs to the kitchen of her home. Fetching a cup from a cabinet, she fills it up with water from the nearby sink tap. She instinctively turns over to the small kitchen table. The chair that her mother would usually sit in is empty. _No saying hello to her this morning._ Mae wants to watch some television with her dad. _Maybe Garbo and Malloy will be playing?_ She dawdles over and onto the couch. _Nothing like the couch over at Gregg's place._ She gets grumpy from the thought. "Hey dadders, could we watch some television?" Nobody is sitting next to her. The spot her dad usually sits is soaked with blood and has a single familiar finger on it. Mae continues as if her dad is there. "Don't worry, I'll change it to the right channel." The cup of water that was in her hand is now a remote control. Her finger moves over to the "next channel" button. Skimming through the channels, each one only showing static. Every press of the button moving on to the next channel, which becomes blacker than the rest until the TV becomes pitch black. _That was a good episode,_ Mae thinks, enjoying the amazing, hilarious comedy she just watched. Without thinking, she throws the remote to the floor. It makes a glass shattering sound that echoes throughout the entire house. When she checks the floor, all that is there is a broken glass cup and a wet stain. "Mom! The carpet is wet again!" Mae shouts to the upstairs section of the house. _I wonder what Bea is up to?_ She says her thought to her mother, "And I'm also heading out to Pickaxe Ol'! See you tonight, Mom!"

Mae, now at the front, opens the door. The Pickaxe Ol's music begins to play it's usual music (a reversed them of the Ol' Pickaxe's theme) as Mae enters. She waves her hand to Bea, remarking, "That episode today was hella good!" Bea shakes her head no.

"Since when have you started to say 'Hella'?" Bea asks as seriously as possible.

Mae begins to laugh uncontrollably at Bea's question. "When did I ever say that?!" Tears stream from Mae's eyes, the humor overwhelming her.

Bea's face becomes as sour as lemon juice. "I still haven't forgiven you."

"Now you bring that up?!" Mae's eyebrows slanting, her face looks angry. "I was under stress! Ok?!" Mae throws out yells at Bea.

Bea returns with more shouting, "That chair hurt, Mae! I am injured. So injured, actually, that I might as well be dead right now!"

"Yeah, go ahead! Kill yourself! See if I care!" Mae didn't put a lick of thought into what she was saying."

Mae instantly feels extremely terrible. Immense guilt filled within her. "What? I don't know? A chair can't kill you! And shouldn't you have been able to dodge it anyway?" Mae shrugged unable to comprehend death by chair. Bea just chuckles as if what Mae said was blatantly wrong.

A sudden flicker, then the lights switched off momentarily. A loud sound could be heard along with screeching against the floor. When the lighting turned back on, Bea was on the counter with multiple streams of blood flowing down her head, from the multitude of glass shards. Mae screamed in horror, not able to withstand this horrific sight.

She instantly woke up. Her nose was in pain, and so her first instinct was to feel around it. When she peeked at her hand, there was a light blood splotch. Although, what was more important to her at the moment was whatever just happened. _That dream… or no... nightmare! That wasn't the usual dream-to-reality type thing. What could it have meant…? It made no sense. Bea… did I… ki- no! It was just a chair to the head. Nothing lethal... right? I just have to hope she recovered!_ Mae shakes the thoughts out of her head. _Let's see where I am now._ With a bright light all around her and the odd smell of pine cones, It did not take too long for Mae to notice the strange building she was inside. All four walls and the ceiling were glass, with a soft carpeted flooring. Through the transparent walls showed a forest completely surrounding the building. No doors, any hallways, nor any other rooms were connected, only this one big room Mae was located in. The temperature nice and warm. As for what was inside, Mae herself was tucked into a blue, clean sleeping bag. Next to her was a silver tray with a steaming cup of tea. A plate of food sat next to the hot beverage. With the rumble of her stomach she knew exactly what to do with the food. Mae grabbed the plate and began to consume the food. Some thoroughly cooked salmon along with a side of steaming mashed potatoes. Compared to the snack foods she ate twenty-four/seven, this was heaven. The cup of tea was also good, a nice bit of variety than just water. Although, this dinner made Mae realize something, _If I'm able to get full from eating this, then I must not be dreaming anymore._ But that just made her question more about the area she was in. _This is oddly calming, something must be up._ She scratched her chin with her mashed potato-covered finger wondering. _Welp, might as well search around… this mostly empty room._ Mae removed herself from the sleeping bag. Mae felt a cramp in her leg, so she walked away the pain. Going up to the walls, she pressed her hand against it. The wall was cold and it indeed felt like glass. The outside looked completely real too. _Not a hologram,_ she told herself.

"You've finally arrived."

"Ack!" Mae turned around, shook, reaching for the knife she didn't have with her. "Who are you? Why am I here?" Mae showed her fists to try and intimidate the person.

"Relax Mae. I'm here for you." Mae examined the person closely for any clues to their identity. Their voice was deeply masculine meaning most likely an adult man. He had a large, brown hood over his head and body to block any features from showing. He was taller than Mae, much like many other people. She couldn't pick out any other details with the hood on.

"If you're here for me, then why don't you take off the hood?" she spoke cautiously.

"I'm not the matter here. You've asked for guidance and I am here to deliver."

 _He's right. I did want some guidance._ "If that's your goal, then go ahead and give me some answers! How do I escape? Why is Gregg suddenly evil and the leader? Why am I even here in the first place?! Ho-" The hooded man gave a loud cough and stuck out his arm, mostly covered by sleeve, in order to silence Mae. His hand was a light brown fur, one of the few details Mae could gain on her own. He moved over to the center of the room, and sat down directly on the sleeping bag. Mae was not sure what to do. "What are you doing?" The hooded man remained silent. "Stop being creepy you weirdo, and effing help me!" His silence irritated her. "You!" she shouted to gain his attention.

"Calm." he said extremely quietly, but loud enough for Mae to hear. She realized her desperation for help, how badly she wanted an answer. As quiet and moveless as the hooded man was being, Mae felt like she might have hurt his feelings. _I think he wants me to do something._ She walked up to him. No movement he gave. _Is he… meditating? Am I supposed to join him?_ She stood there for a good couple of minutes not knowing what to do. The hooded man sighed, and he patted the area of the sleeping bag next to him. _Oh, he does want me to join him. He could have told me._ She sat next to him.

"Meditate."

"What?"

"Close your eyes, put your hands out, and relax yourself. Like me." The hooded man takes in a deep breath, then relaxes his body. Mae, watching him, inhales extremely deeply and barely exhales, choking herself. The hooded man sighs in pity, "You… You're trying too hard. Just relax."

"Hey! You don't know the stuff I've been through! How do I even know you'll have the information I need?"

"If you truly want to see my knowledge, I shall give some to you. I know everything that has happened to you in false world. I've been watching over you."

"So you've basically been stalking me?"

"No… I can hear all of your thoughts."

"Guess this thought!" Mae thought of a random message that the man would not be able to guess. _Peanut butter sandwich with a side of toenail clippings!_ Mae grinned thinking he would never guess that. _Not even a lucky guess can happen!_

"Peanut butter sandwich with a side of toenail clippings... Which is a strange thought."

"Lucky guess!" Mae was not too astounded by this. More confused than anything else, but by this point she was used to confusion. Confusion is common in false world.

"How are you able to hear my thoughts? How long have you been able to hear them?!"

"I myself am not sure as to how I can hear them. It's only occurred since about the time you've arrived to what you call 'false world'."

"You know what I'm able to think, but you haven't seen everything for yourself."

"Yes, to an extent."

"What?" Mae scratched her ear.

"I can teleport myself from this room to that world. But only every once in a while. It's a strange ability. One of the many factors of false world that even I don't understand."

"You understand more than I do," Mae grumbles, scratching her chin. "Hey, if you trust me, then why don't you tell me who you are?"

"No. Maybe next time you visit me."

"Oh come on! I've been through so much suspense! So much mystery! And I can't even know who you are?!"

"Calm down, Mae. I was just kidding." He pulls down his hood revealing a snow leopard man (because everybody in nitw is an animal). "My name is William." He gives a smile showing his yellow teeth.

"That's a nice name. I don't think I've ever heard of you before though…"

"You never knew who I was, but I knew who you were."

"Yeah, you know who I am from watching over me."

He snickers, telling Mae, "I've known you from long before false world."

"Wait, what?" Her ear twitched nervously. "Did you stalk me?"

"Yes, I was one of them who did it."

Mae stumbles back. "You stalked me?! And there were more."

"It was not fully stalking. I had to do it as a part of my oath."

"Oath? Stalking? Group of people?" it all too suddenly pieced together in her mind, "Were you in the cult?!"

"I did what I did because of my oath. Eventually, I learned to not like it.

Mae could remember the time when she went into the mines and met face to face with the cult, or face to hood. There, Mae, along with Gregg, Bea, and Angus, learned about Casey's disappearance was more so Casey's death; a death at fault to the cult and a deep hole. Mae accused William, "You were one of them who killed Casey!"

William's anger could be sensed off from him, but he also wanted to calm down the situation. "I'm here to guide you not talk about my past. I had nothing to do with that boy, you can trust me on that."

"But the cult killed Casey, You're a part of the cult, so you have some part in his death." He took a deep breath, then continued his meditation, attempting to ignore Mae. "Could you at least tell me how he was when he died? Was he scared for his life? Was he unconscious? Did he even get to say any last words?"

He looked as if he recalled a memory, but he did not mention it. "I'm a cult member not any longer, so stop treating me like one of them. I did told you I have nothing to do with that boy. We're here for you, your life, not for mine. Now meditate with me, we need to do this."

Mae was skeptical about this whole situation. A cult member, or better yet, an ex-cult member, wanted her to meditate with him. And, he kept telling that there was no connection between him and Casey, Mae, however, felt that he was lying. She had no proof to come back at him though. A deal felt like the best option. "If I meditate with you, will you talk about Casey?" Mae spoke, hoping for a straightforward yes.

"I can only give you what I know," William said.

 _Anything about Casey's death, that's all I want_. She watched the man to mimic his actions in order to successfully meditate. She tried to get her breathing synchronized with his, but just began odd breaths. When she tried to get in the same pose as him, she ended up straining herself. _Ugh! I can't do this!_ Mae thought.

Knowing what she was thinking William whispered, "Yes you can. You don't have to meditate **exactly** like me, the crucial part is to **relax**. First your body, then your mind."

Mae gave him a blank stare. _Just relax? That's it_ she pondered, _I can do that._ Mae lays back onto the soft carpet ground, stretches her arms outward, and releases all the tension in her body. The room was too quiet. Many thoughts came flooding to her mind: how to escape, why was Gregg doing all this, what to do with Bea, what was her nightmare about, would taco tasty tuesday be a good idea, who was this hooded man, what's the bigger picture, many important questions going unanswered.

William repeated his words, "First your body, then your mind."

 _Got it._ Mae began to think about a blank wall, letting all the other thoughts vanish until her mind was empty. Mae was thinking of nothing, nothing at all (except for tacos, those always lingered in her mind). It was nice and peaceful. Quiet even. The feeling of the floor beneath her giving way. An endless void surrounding her. Her body felt like it was floating. Whether this was actually happening she could not tell. She cannot see for her eyes would not open. She could not speak for her mouth remained shut. All she could do was smell, hear, and feel. Even then, there was no smell. There were no objects to feel. Too quiet for sound. Though, wait. In the far distance, there was a sound. That sound only grew louder and louder. It began to sound like a fork rubbing against a plate, or a metal hook scraping against glass. Her mind filled with vivid images of a wide smile. The cause of the noise incomprehensible for her mind to process, to imagine, to ponder. _**Then, suddenly, a loud scratchy voice appeared in her mind, "The end is approaching, much faster than you think. When you see sky turn purple and a blue butterfly, one with yellow spots, you will know that your grand finale is right in front of you. Good luck~"**_

She jolted up from her spot, clawing the floor in panic. A headache brewing in her head. "Wh-What just happened!? Who was that?!" Mae was filled with so much fear at just thinking about the voice she heard. She turned to the hooded man for an answer, hoping he would actually give one this time. And he did give one.

"It was a message left by her; the creator."

* * *

 **End notes: Interesting chapter? Not interesting chapter? Weird chapter maybe? Tried to leave it on suspense for the next chapter - which hopefully won't come out five months from now... Anyway, hope you liked this one, next one will (most likely) dive into information about not only false world, but that and nitw's famed cult as well. Be on the lookout for chapter twelve, and thanks for reading this chapter of my story. Until later!**


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